Les Jocasses
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Slow-roasted rosemary leg of lamb, classic Provençal beef daube, or grilled venison sausages.
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the prestigious Gigondas appellation in the Southern Rhône Valley, 'Les Jocasses' by the esteemed house of M. Chapoutier is a powerful testament to the region's dramatic terroir. The name Gigondas itself derives from the Latin 'Jocunditas', meaning great pleasure or joy—a fitting moniker for a wine of such intense character. Grown at the foot of the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range, the vines thrive in limestone-rich clay and stony soils. This cuvée is typically dominated by Grenache, complemented by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault. Chapoutier employs traditional vinification with concrete tanks and large oak foudres to respect the fruit's purity, resulting in a robust red defined by dark plum, wild garrigue herbs, black pepper, and a muscular yet velvety tannin structure.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1808 in Tain-l'Hermitage, Maison M. Chapoutier was transformed into a global benchmark for terroir-driven viticulture after Michel Chapoutier took charge in 1990. Operating on the motto 'Fac & Spera' (Do and Hope), the estate became an early, outspoken pioneer of biodynamic farming in 1991 across its extensive estate vineyards. Rooted along the granite terraces, fluvioglacial alluvial soils, and limestone outcrops of the northern and southern Rhône Valley, Chapoutier crafts transparent, single-vineyard bottlings (sélections parcellaires) alongside international ventures in regions like Portugal's Douro Valley. Winemaking favors indigenous yeasts, gentle extraction, and minimal intervention to preserve purity of origin, often eschewing new wood in favor of neutral oak casks or concrete vats. Benchmark cuvées—famed for their tactile Braille labeling introduced in 1994—include Hermitage icons such as Le Méal Blanc, De l'Orée, Les Greffieux, and Côte-Rôtie's La Mordorée, epitomizing tension, minerality, and structural longevity.
🍇 Grapes
Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre