Domaine Gour de Chaule Gigondas .8 La Numero Huit 2022

Beginning in 2018, Stephanie Fumoso entrusted her son Paul to create two new cuvées based on plantings in some of the domaine’s most prized sites. “La Numero Huit” is pure Grenache from one of Gour de Chaulé’s oldest parcels: 100-year-old vines, a portion of which are ungrafted, planted in sandy limestone soil just across the street from the winery itself. Fermented spontaneously with 60-to-100% whole clusters depending on the vintage, “La Numero Huit” emphasizes elegance over power; to that end, Paul favors a gentle but long extraction and ages the wine in cement egg for 12 months with minimal sulfur additions. The result is a testament to Grenache’s capacity for finesse: an energetic, mineral-drenched wine that puts one in the mind of the sand-grown Grenache of the legendary Château Rayas—an estate Paul holds in the highest esteem. As for the name of the cuvée, 8 is Paul’s favorite number—one that crops up regularly in this numerologically attuned young man’s life.