Le Grand Village, Rouge, Vin de France Rouge, 2025
Omri explained that spring was easy with no frost or mildew pressure. They had a beautiful flowering at the end of May and the water table was healthy. This underground reserve started to evaporate as the temperature rose. Cover crops were removed as they were competing for water and the height of the canopy was lowered several times, although the vines were allowed to grow horizontally to provide shade. The team also opened the soil every time there was any moisture to aid retention. Grand Village has a lot of water-retentive clay and limestone, so this was dry-farmed. We're going to sound like a broken record, but this could be the best Grand Village to date. Every year this wine seems to develop new levels of sophistication. Aromatically very sexy with a strong Bouchet identity: leafy cassis, pencil-shavings, bramble fruit and gravel. Waves of generous blackcurrant and plums. Good purity and transparency with floral griotte flavours . Excellent precision and detail for a wine at this price point. It finishes with lift, energy and a delicate, refreshing salinity.
critic reviews
The 2025 Grand Village was picked September 4 to 18. It has a tightly wound bouquet with cranberry and blackcurrant scents, well defined with a touch of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with a grainy entry, very well balanced, a tang of cracked black pepper leading to a very cohesive finish. This is a superb Grand Village that should give up to a decade of drinking pleasure.
Excellent quality, supple and silky red fruits opening then fine grained tannins kick in that deepen and slow progress through the palate. This is a smile-inducing wine with great charm. Clay soils. 30% new oak. Harvest September 4 to 18, with around 37hl/ha yield.
The 2025 Le Grand Village Rouge is a very pretty wine. Crushed flowers, vibrant red-toned fruit, rose petal, blood orange and mint are all nicely lifted. This is an especially airy, aromatic vintage for Le Grand Village. There's good energy throughout. Let's see if this gains weight with élevage.