Domaine Courbis Saint-Joseph Rouge 2012

The Courbis St. Joseph is vinified in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with 15 days of vatting. It is aged in a combination of 20% tanks and 80% barrels. The casks are 15% new and the balance 2-3 years old. After 10 months, the barrel aged wine is assembled back in tank for a few more months before bottling.

The origins of the Courbis family estate date back to the 16th century. More recently, the brothers Dominique and Laurent Courbis have succeeded their father, Maurice, who was the mayor of Chateaubourg, their hometown. All the grapes are harvested by hand and yields are kept to an average of 30 hl/ha. The fruit is 100% destemmed and the maceration period for the Syrahs lasts between two and three weeks. The wines mature in oak casks which are new or up to three years old. The red wines are fined with egg whites but not filtered and are bottled between two and three years of the harvest.