2019 Domaine du Trapadis Rasteau Rouge Les Cras

70% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 10% Mourvèdre, and 10% Syrah

The story of this estate begins with current winemaker Helen Durand’s two great-grandfathers, Césaire Brun and Théophile Charavin, each of whom owned a piece of land that would later become Domaine du Trapadis. The next generation, Césaire’s and Théophile’s children married, bringing together the estate, and, in 1950, the cellar was built in its current location. Helen’s parents eventually took over and continued the family business until 1996, when Helen took over, assuming complete control of the operations. Rasteau is often associated with richer, denser red wines. Still, Helen has slowly evolved in a different direction, with lower intervention and gentler extraction resulting in a more refined, chiseled, and elegant character. Complex but light, these are Grenache-based wines that defy expectations. Trapadis means “hole” in Provençal and refers to an underground natural spring in a vineyard near the cellar that provides water for the surrounding area.