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Based in Verenay, south of Lyon, this family run wine estate is an exciting new addition to our Northern Rhone Valley selection. Run by the same family since the 1940's, Domaine Clusel Roch is now under the reins of Gilbert Clusel, his wife Brigitte Roch and their son Guillaume who joined the domaine in 2009 after finishing his studies in "vine and wine".

The Clusel Rochs are fervent farmers and passionate wine growers. This passion for the soil, vines, good food and wines follows a strong family ethos, heralded most prominently by Rene Clusel who in 1969, began bottling under the Domaine Clusel, his single hectare of vines from the legendary Vineyard " Les Grandes Places'' planted with a low yielding clone of Syrah called Serine. According to Gilbert, being less productive these vines give more complex aromas than the modern selections. The family have long been believers in the advantages of organic farming and have been pioneers of the movement within the region. In fact they had fully converted to this process as far back as 1990, and certified Biodynamic since 2002. The vines are processed almost entirely by hand with no chemical fertilizers used. Instead the soil is tilled with picks, hoes and hand-plows in the steepest slopes of the Rhone. Medicinal herbs are planted between the vines to prevent disease, acting like natural pesticides and showing a deep understanding of the local environment.

The vineyards are located in the Northern part of the appellation also called the Côte Brune, as opposed to the south called the Côte Blonde. The soils include iron-rich mica-schist and clay which are darker in colour, hence the name Brune (brown). This unique terroir tends to produce more complex, powerful and dense wine, yet refined and intensely mineral. About a third of the Clusel-Roch's vineyards have vines more than thirty years old. The rest are of younger vines, less than twenty years old. To best express the qualities of the vineyard, the domaine only replants grapes from their own selection of Serines which come from their own nursery (located on the property) and are grafted from their vines in 'Les Grandes Places'. Roughly 4% Viognier vines are interspersed among the Syrah.

In the winery, they use indigenous yeast for all the wines, because they believe that these are the natural components of the land. For the pressing they use a vertical press for the finest results. The Côte-Rôtie wines are aged for min. 2 years in 228 litres french oak barrels which are around 25% new oak. In 2014, Guillaume decided to extend the estate by renting vineyards and started a small project of making wine from the 'Coteaux du Lyonnais appellation' that lies between Lyon and Vienne. Guillaume found an old abandoned vineyard of Gamay and decided to create less-expensive wine that still bears his own signature style. This beloved domaine is producing some of the most elegant wines in the most natural way possible whether on the vertiginous slopes of the Côte-Rôtie or on the gentle hillsides of the Coteaux du Lyonnais.