Duclaux

Brothers Benjamin and David Duclaux are fourth generation vignerons in Côte-Rôtie, their great-grandfather having bought the estate flanking the villages of Tupin and Semons in 1928. The estate holdings cover 13 acres, made up of spectacular terraced vineyards cut into the steep slopes and held up by four miles of stone walls made of the gneiss that forms the substrate in this southern portion of Côte-Rôtie. They farm “en echelas,” with each vine trained to a single stake, foreswear the use of pesticides and herbicides, and do all the vineyard work by hand. In the cellar, they use little new oak and aim for elegance in their wines, which have become some of the most sought after in Côte-Rôtie.