1991 at Domaine de Marcoux

The year of the official transition to organic. A decision taken by Philippe, but in agreement with his mother Jacqueline; with his sister Sophie, who worked alongside him; and with Catherine, his elder sister, who worked in Avignon but kept an eye on the estate. It was a difficult year: a very wet spring, no summer and no heat. The seasons were hard to recognise. A huge storm over Châteauneuf in late July didn’t help the grapes to ripen. No problems with disease: no downy mildew, no rot. The crop was small, but above all there was no colour and little alcohol. A tough vintage. Even so, we managed to make fragrant, fruit-forward wines, albeit with little cellaring potential… It was a pity: in November, Sophie gave birth to her first son, Vincent! We didn’t save many bottles for his future personal cellar.