Séguret is a beautiful hillside village situated just east of the Dentelles de Montmirail in the Southern Rhône Valley. Domaine De Mourchon is set in the hills behind Séguret at an altitude of 350 metres and the vineyards are divided into a series of hillside parcels.

I first met the proprietor/founder of Domaine De Mourchon, Scotsman - Walter McKinlay in 1997 when the winery was still a construction site. Nick Thompson, the proprietor/wine-maker at Domaine De l’Ameillaud in Cairanne was the consultant wine-maker to Domaine De Mourchon; Sébastien MAGNOUAC is currently the wine-maker and has been since 2000.

This gleaming eight-year-old space-age winery wouldn’t look out of place in any ‘New World’ wine producing region. The point of difference being the 35 to 55 year old vines growing in the clay, limestone and grey sandstone which characteristically provide Séguret with its dark color, full-body, plenty of spicy fruit, and firm structure courtesy of the powerful ripe tannins.

The Mourchon wines have the potential to mature and develop in the cellar for up to ten years.

As is typical of the area Grenache is the most widely planted variety and is complemented with Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault.

The first vintage from Mourchon’s winery was in 1998; all grapes are harvested by hand, there are three wines and the cepage for each is listed below –