News from the Vineyard; A discovery just north of Côte-Rôtie

by Raj Vaidya

May 9th, 2022

I shared some photographs and thoughts over the last couple of weeks pertaining to the farming practices in Côte-Rôtie, and one important reality that must be reckoned with there is that the vineyards which have been treated with chemical herbicides over the past decades will take some time to recover and rejuvenate. The fact is that vignerons like Clusel and Stephan who have farmed organically for many years are in the minority.

Whilst visiting I came across a young couple, Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux, who began a small winery and vineyard in 2017, with vines in Côte-Rôtie which they have converted to organics. They told me that they have planted a vineyard in Sessyuel, a village just north of Ampuis, on the other side of the river but thanks to the meandering river path has the same aspect, facing due south with very steep slopes falling down from the hillsides over the Rhône. Sessyuel was planted to the vine in Roman times, and continued to make respected (if not sought after) wines up until phylloxera after which the area was abandoned. Sophie Eymin’s family traces their roots in Sessyuel back to this era, and her family used their property on the hillsides to raise sheep and llamas over several generations, an unlikely fate for historic vineyards but one which allowed these parcels of land to never be affected by herbicides or really any chemicals at all…

Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux of the new Domaine Eymin-Tichoux in front of the vineyard they’ve planted on the site of an old llama pasture in Sessyuel.

So they set about planting their first hectare of vineyard since phylloxera. The work they’ve embarked upon is momentous; they had to clear the slopes completely overgrown below the vineyard in the pasture after the first planting to add more acreage, these are formerly terraced vineyards from Roman times and extremely steep.

Kevin stands beneath the slope they have planted to Syrah in Sessyuel. The wooded area to the left of the picture gives one an idea of how this parcel looked prior to being cleared, and they plan to continue clearing the property till they have planted the amphitheater which this parcel represents the eastern half of.

The vineyard was teeming with life. We could see the back side of the hill of Côte-Rôtie across the river and feel the crisp wind channeling through past the vines; this part of the Rhône is the narrowest valley in the vine growing areas of the north.

The Eymin-Tichoux Sessyuel vineyard overlooking the Rhône and the back side of Côte-Rôtie in the background.

The domaine makes two bottlings from Sessyuel, a small amount of Côte-Rôtie as well as a white Saint Joseph and red Crozes-Hermitage from purchased grapes. These are very young vines with the exception of the Côte-Rôtie which they were lucky enough to be able to buy thanks to a government grant set aside for young entrepreneurial farmers in the area. But already I found the wines to be delightful and full of promise. I have high hopes that we’ll be able to have them join us sometime down the road for La Tablée, so keep an eye out for them!