Producer Profile: Domaine Roger Sabon

Domaine Roger Sabon is a good example of a family-run estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Roger Sabon founded the domaine as we know it today in 1952, following in the footsteps of his father, Séraphin Sabon, who created Clos Mont-Olivet twenty years before. In 1973, with the help of his three sons, Denis, Gilbert and Jean-Jacques, Roger Sabon acquired a 12-hectare property in Lirac. Today, the winery is managed Denis and Gilbert Sabon, along with Denis’ children, Delphine and Julien. Didier Négron, the late Jean-Jacques Sabon's son-in-law, joined the estate as enologist in 2001, and is now the cellar master.    

The domaine owns seventeen hectares of vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, composed of fifteen parcels located in the heart of the appellation, mostly on soils rich in pebbles. Their other property, Chapelle de Maillac, is located on the opposite bank of the Rhône River, and includes twelve hectares in Lirac.

Grapes are almost fully destemmed because Didier Négron wishes to limit the risk of vegetal notes potentially brought by stem inclusion. Négron explains that the philosophy of the domaine is to work with long macerations, which last about a month. According to Négron, the wines maintain good freshness thanks to careful blending and the meticulously chosen harvest dates of each parcel. With the Syrah, for example, the domaine works with lower ripeness levels to maintain freshness as well as color in the wines. Similarly, with the Grenache (the base of every wine produced at Roger Sabon, depending on the soils and the characteristics of the parcels) Négron seeks a bit less ripeness on the vine to keep natural freshness and retain acidity, which contributes to good tension in the wines.

The winemaking methods employed at Domaine Roger Sabon are reflected in the style of the wines. From beginning to end, the wines display deep, expressive notes of red and dark berries that don’t ever seem to be held back. Nevertheless, this intensity is never over-ripe or candied; to the contrary, the fruit is well balanced by a beautiful sense of freshness.

Multimedia: In the Cellar with Didier Négron