Le Vallon Domaine Milan 2020

Le Vallon Domaine Milan, Natural Wine, Organic Vineyards, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Milan the Magician! Le Vallon is pure Provence, aromas of Herbs de Provence and ,garrigue, mingle with soft ripe fruit and a mineral edge. Henri Milan makes delicious wines that need a little time in bottle to start to fully express themselves. Le Vallon 2009 is a blend of a blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Cinsault. Yields are low at 45 hl/h. The grapes are harvested and put in vats without being de-stemmed for a short maceration. The fermentation takes place without any added yeasts, only the ones which are present on the grape skins. Also, the different grape varieties are blended together at the beginning and not at the end with fermented and aged juices like others winemakers would do. It is now drinking very well and has great balance and minerality to match the structure of the wine and flavour profile. Delicious wine for grilled meat and hearty earthy cheeses. In fact, it goes with everything, Milan is the Burgundy of Provence, hence the bottle shape, no more clearly expressed than in this wine.

Henri Milan has always done thing his way, and broke away from the Baux de Provence AOC so as to have the freedom to produce the wines he wanted.

The Domaine was started by Henri's father Robert in 1956, but it wasn't until Henri took over in the mid-80s that he converted to organic production. Influenced by Claude Courtois and Claude Bourguignon, Henri began to vinify the different sections of his vineyard separately and moved further towards natural production. He now grows a number of grape varieties including Grenache, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Rolle, Roussanne and Chardonnay. The only chemical treatment used during the entire process of growth and vinification is a small amount of sulphur dioxide, which is added, on some rare occasions, during bottling. Fermentation always takes place naturally, with the grapes blended at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end. His wines have a wonderful purity and expression of terroir.