Benjamin and David Duclaux are the fourth generation of grower/wine-makers in their family. They tend the Cote Rotie vineyards that their great grandfather established in 1928 as well as vines their father acquired in Condrieu.
While they have had the chance to grow their vineyard holdings, they instead concentrate on making what they have better. “Rather than worry about growing the domaine, we try to focus in order to improve,” says Benjamin. “Like with Japanese caligraphy, where they practice writing one character over and over, that’s how we approach it. We do smaller and smaller parcel selections in the vineyards, trying to get ideal ripeness. And smaller and smaller vinifications in the cellar to assemble the blend from. We have vines all up and down a slope that reaches 300 meters in elevation and we can have 7 to 10 days difference between ripening among them, so we have to focus on the details.”