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Nicole Rolet and how Chêne Bleu earnt its Super Rhône status
Nicole Rolet and how Chêne Bleu earnt its Super Rhône status
"If you were to visit Chȇne Bleu today, tucked in to the foothills of Mont Ventoux, it would be hard to imagine a site that had been abandoned for years. Not only is it now a beautiful home for Xavier and Nicole Rolet, but it has been transformed in to a vineyard producing wines that have been awarded Super Rhone status by the world’s top critics. Nicole Rolet shares her story with The Buyer. "Dreams really can come true as Nicole Rolet looks back on how a determination to transform abandoned terroir in a forgotten part of the Rhône has...
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Chêne Bleu – with Nicole Rolet
Chêne Bleu – with Nicole Rolet
"Straddling the corners of four appellations in the Vaucluse area of southeastern France, Chêne Blue made a bold decision deciding to step outside of the AOC system in order to achieve their goal of producing high quality wines. With a southern latitude, in line with Gigondas, and high altitude (more northern and similar to Condrieu), Chêne Bleu almost literally has “one foot in the southern Rhône and one foot in the northern Rhône.” Being outside of the AOC system means the wines are often given broader geographic boundaries, such as Vin de Pays, Vaucluse or AOC Ventoux. "The Chêne Bleu...
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Why Chêne Bleu’s Pont des Arts rosé deserves serious attention
Why Chêne Bleu’s Pont des Arts rosé deserves serious attention
“Chêne Bleu is a winery that is always coming up with surprises and new ideas. Its ‘Super Rhône’ status is well deserved. Geoffrey Dean explains how owner Nicole Rolet has teamed up with Thibault Pontallier to create a very special rosé as part of his Pont des Arts series of wines. It is already gaining cult status. Here’s how. Geoffrey Dean on a special rosé that is a combination of great terroir, winemaking and art. “Investors who like a balanced portfolio of wines might want to consider a top-end rosé that is available in the UK from mid-August through Justerini...
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Rhône Awakening in Provence with Chene Bleu
Rhône Awakening in Provence with Chene Bleu
“The wind is petulant near the river, whipping up a cool breeze. I clutch my wrap and an errant wisp of hair dances in my face while I try to stay warm. I’m heading off to Angéle. A relaxing little gem on the Napa River. Its cozy atmosphere and delightful morsels of goodness are perfect for tasting. I am meeting with a former Wall Street investment banker who consulted for the likes of the Rockefellers. Her affluent upbringing introduced her to the world of wine early on. Her mother was a chef and food critic, her father a wine collector....
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Pont des Arts teams up with Chêne Bleu
Pont des Arts teams up with Chêne Bleu
"As part of its new collection using the artwork of Spanish artist, Miquel Barceló, Pont des Arts has created a Grenache rosé in collaboration with super-Rhone producer, Chêne Bleu. "'Bridging the gap' between art and wine, Thibault Pontallier and Arthur de Villepin have launched a new collection in Hong Kong, with a London release to follow shortly after. "The latest Pont des Arts range features the work of Miquel Barceló, a Spanish contemporary painter who has redesigned Pont des Arts’ logo on each of the seven wines which hail from Bordeaux and Burgundy, including Vosne-Romanée aux Reas, Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Meursault and Saint-Émilion. "Pontallier and...
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Grenache Day: A toast to the unsung hero of the wine industry — and one of its biggest fans
Grenache Day: A toast to the unsung hero of the wine industry — and one of its biggest fans
"Sept. 18 marks Grenache Day. It is a day to honor the unsung hero of the wine industry: grenache. "The question has been: Why isn’t grenache, as well as the other Rhone varietals, better known? According to Nicole Sierra-Rolet of Chêne Bleu Winery and one of the founders of Grenache Day, 'Grenache has to have a place in the Olympics of grapes and deserves to be loved as it is velvety and luxurious.' Grenache Day is spearheading the movement to put grenache on the map. Who is Nicole Sierra-Rolet? "Sierra-Rolet, born to an American mother and a French/Italian father, was...
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Chêne Bleu, a World-Class Estate in the Making in Vaucluse
Chêne Bleu, a World-Class Estate in the Making in Vaucluse
"Chêne Bleu — 'blue oak' — occupies 340 acres in a unique microclimate at elevations from 1,600 to 1,800 feet in a saddle of the Dentelles de Montmirail where four southern Rhône appellations — Gigondas, Côtes du Ventoux, Côtes du Rhône and Séguret — merge. Eighty-seven acres of the estate, called La Verrière for more than six centuries, are cultivated to vineyards; grapes have been grown in the steep, stony area for a thousand years. Xavier and Nicole Rolet purchased the isolated and long neglected property and its ancient ruined priory in 1993 and spent 10 years restoring the dilapidated...
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Is This the World’s First Super Rhône?
Is This the World’s First Super Rhône?
"In the early 1970s, the world was first introduced to the concept of Super Tuscan wines. The catchy name was given to a group of Italian wines made by producers who didn’t like the restrictive Chianti DOC laws governing the grapes they could use in the blends of their wine. To bypass this, estates such as Marchesi Antinori and Sassicaia simply labeled their bottles vino da tavola, or table wine. Anyone who had the good fortune to taste them knew they were anything but, and they sold at high prices. "...Two decades later, Bordeaux experienced its own mutiny when several...
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Chêne Bleu Finds Its Footing: Up in the breezy hills, Nicole Sierra-Rolet’s project blossoms
Chêne Bleu Finds Its Footing: Up in the breezy hills, Nicole Sierra-Rolet’s project blossoms
"The all-star vinification team behind the still relatively nascent Chêne Bleu hasn't changed—Zelma Long has been consulting here since 2008 and Philippe Cambie since its inception. Thomas Oui is the day-to-day enologist while the husband-and-wife team of Jean-Louis and Benedicte Ballucci handles the vineyards, cellar and just about everything else on this sprawling 321-acre estate, which now has 57 acres of vines in production. For background on this project, reference my previous blog entries. "Set atop the hills behind Gigondas, at about 550 meters of elevation, Chêne Bleu is basically a vineyard within a nature preserve. The benefit is the...
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Cool-Climate Reds of the Southern Rhone
Cool-Climate Reds of the Southern Rhone
"It's not inaccurate to think of the sun-soaked Southern Rhone as the home of big reds. But the region offers ample diversity, and wine lovers looking for a change of pace can simply head for the hills. "Chene Bleu is the most exciting new producer here; Nicole Rolet and her husband have renovated a ninth-century priory, planting new vineyards and bringing some parcels of old-vine Grenache back to life. Their Syrah and Grenache bottlings are sleek, pure and loaded with fruit, floral and mineral notes, while their white called Aliot -- a blend of Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Marsanne --...
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