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Buy Wine from Château Rocheyron
Château Rocheyron, located in the north-western part of the Saint Émilion limestone plateau, is a discreet property in size - just 8 hectares - but of a quiet intensity that only a few estates can afford.
The vineyard: limestone, red clay and well-planted Merlot
Its vineyard, mostly planted with Merlot (70%) and supplemented with Cabernet Franc (30%), stretches over active limestone soils with streaks of red clay resting on a base of hard limestone - that same "calcaire à astéries" that has given identity to the Grand Cru Classé on the right side of the Garonne for centuries.
Who is behind Rocheyron? Spoiler: serious people
What distinguishes Rocheyron is not only its privileged terroir, nor its venerable age - the first mentions of cultivation in this parcel date back to the 18th century - but the precise and deliberate intervention of those at the helm today: Silvio Denz, a Swiss entrepreneur with multiple interests in the wine world, and Peter Sisseck, the Dane who revolutionised the Ribera del Duero with Pingus. Since 2010, both have taken this property as a personal manifesto. It is not about adding another label to a collection, but about working meticulously to translate a Burgundian interpretation of the Bordeaux landscape, where the variety is not the protagonist but a tool, and the soil has its own voice.
They do not make wine to impress, but to stay
Rocheyron wines do not impose themselves. They do not seek volume or muscle, but tension, depth and precision. They are wines that start out softly spoken, almost shy, but gain complexity and nuances with each sip, as if time were their true language.
Biodynamic agriculture without posturing
This is no coincidence: the estate has been cultivated for more than a decade under the principles of biodynamic agriculture, without shortcuts or concessions. The vineyard is managed in a traditional way, with a reduced number of interventions, so that the plant regulates its vigour in a natural way. Pruning is short, yields are controlled, and the grapes are harvested by hand with selection on the plot and on the table.
This is how wine is made at Rocheyron: calmly and without gimmicks
Vinification is almost monastic. Spontaneous fermentations, no added yeasts. Macerations are slow, extractive without being aggressive. Ageing takes place in French oak barrels - a variable proportion of new wood depending on the vintage - for 14 to 18 months, although the times are not dictated by the calendar but by tasting. The important thing, they say, is that the wine is not distorted. No make-up or unnecessary opulence. In Sisseck's words, "the challenge at Saint Émilion is not to make powerful wines. That is easily given by Merlot. The challenge is to maintain freshness and verticality. Letting the limestone do its job"
what does a Rocheyron taste like? Black fruit, minerality and nerve
In years like 2016 or 2019, Rocheyron has achieved a remarkable balance between ripe black fruit, saline mineral notes, and fine tannin, with tension on the palate and a long finish that doesn't tire. In other more challenging vintages -2013, for example-, the wine did not hide behind oak or technical corrections, but showed a raw honesty, reflecting the year as it was, with its limits and its austere beauty.
There is no second wine (and that says it all).
This approach has made Rocheyron particularly appreciated by a connoisseur public, far from the mainstream of muscular Bordeaux, and closer to those who value the purity of terroir over oenological architecture.
One of the most striking aspects of the property is its deliberately slow pace of work. Unlike most Bordeaux estates, at Rocheyron there is no obsession with multiplying labels or scaling production. Annual production is barely 30,000 bottles, and there is no second wine. What does not reach the expected level is simply not bottled under the label.
Where is it sold? Almost in secret, like good records.
This philosophy, closer to the Burgundian cult than to the traditional Bordeaux model, is also reflected in the way it is marketed: very discreetly, without noisy campaigns or large print runs in primeur. In fact, a considerable part of the production is reserved for private customers and fine dining restaurants in Europe and Japan.
Rocheyron does not boast, but leaves a mark
In a region where prestige is sometimes measured in hectares, scores or official rankings, Rocheyron reminds us that greatness can come from the small, precise and silent. Its geographical proximity to names like Château Laroque or Troplong Mondot does not make it a minor shadow, but a parallel voice. A voice that does not shout, but which remains in the memory.
For many, Rocheyron is not yet a "big name", but that, paradoxically, could be its greatest virtue
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Buy Wine from Château Rocheyron
Château Rocheyron, located in the north-western part of the Saint Émilion limestone plateau, is a discreet property in size - just 8 hectares - but of a quiet intensity that only a few estates can afford.
The vineyard: limestone, red clay and well-planted Merlot
Its vineyard, mostly planted with Merlot (70%) and supplemented with Cabernet Franc (30%), stretches over active limestone soils with streaks of red clay resting on a base of hard limestone - that same "calcaire à astéries" that has given identity to the Grand Cru Classé on the right side of the Garonne for centuries.
Who is behind Rocheyron? Spoiler: serious people
What distinguishes Rocheyron is not only its privileged terroir, nor its venerable age - the first mentions of cultivation in this parcel date back to the 18th century - but the precise and deliberate intervention of those at the helm today: Silvio Denz, a Swiss entrepreneur with multiple interests in the wine world, and Peter Sisseck, the Dane who revolutionised the Ribera del Duero with Pingus. Since 2010, both have taken this property as a personal manifesto. It is not about adding another label to a collection, but about working meticulously to translate a Burgundian interpretation of the Bordeaux landscape, where the variety is not the protagonist but a tool, and the soil has its own voice.
They do not make wine to impress, but to stay
Rocheyron wines do not impose themselves. They do not seek volume or muscle, but tension, depth and precision. They are wines that start out softly spoken, almost shy, but gain complexity and nuances with each sip, as if time were their true language.
Biodynamic agriculture without posturing
This is no coincidence: the estate has been cultivated for more than a decade under the principles of biodynamic agriculture, without shortcuts or concessions. The vineyard is managed in a traditional way, with a reduced number of interventions, so that the plant regulates its vigour in a natural way. Pruning is short, yields are controlled, and the grapes are harvested by hand with selection on the plot and on the table.
This is how wine is made at Rocheyron: calmly and without gimmicks
Vinification is almost monastic. Spontaneous fermentations, no added yeasts. Macerations are slow, extractive without being aggressive. Ageing takes place in French oak barrels - a variable proportion of new wood depending on the vintage - for 14 to 18 months, although the times are not dictated by the calendar but by tasting. The important thing, they say, is that the wine is not distorted. No make-up or unnecessary opulence. In Sisseck's words, "the challenge at Saint Émilion is not to make powerful wines. That is easily given by Merlot. The challenge is to maintain freshness and verticality. Letting the limestone do its job"
what does a Rocheyron taste like? Black fruit, minerality and nerve
In years like 2016 or 2019, Rocheyron has achieved a remarkable balance between ripe black fruit, saline mineral notes, and fine tannin, with tension on the palate and a long finish that doesn't tire. In other more challenging vintages -2013, for example-, the wine did not hide behind oak or technical corrections, but showed a raw honesty, reflecting the year as it was, with its limits and its austere beauty.
There is no second wine (and that says it all).
This approach has made Rocheyron particularly appreciated by a connoisseur public, far from the mainstream of muscular Bordeaux, and closer to those who value the purity of terroir over oenological architecture.
One of the most striking aspects of the property is its deliberately slow pace of work. Unlike most Bordeaux estates, at Rocheyron there is no obsession with multiplying labels or scaling production. Annual production is barely 30,000 bottles, and there is no second wine. What does not reach the expected level is simply not bottled under the label.
Where is it sold? Almost in secret, like good records.
This philosophy, closer to the Burgundian cult than to the traditional Bordeaux model, is also reflected in the way it is marketed: very discreetly, without noisy campaigns or large print runs in primeur. In fact, a considerable part of the production is reserved for private customers and fine dining restaurants in Europe and Japan.
Rocheyron does not boast, but leaves a mark
In a region where prestige is sometimes measured in hectares, scores or official rankings, Rocheyron reminds us that greatness can come from the small, precise and silent. Its geographical proximity to names like Château Laroque or Troplong Mondot does not make it a minor shadow, but a parallel voice. A voice that does not shout, but which remains in the memory.
For many, Rocheyron is not yet a "big name", but that, paradoxically, could be its greatest virtue