FRANCOIS ET FILS

the françois family have been traditional farmers for four generations – their main activity is making farmhouse cheeses from the milk from their twenty-five cows, which they sell at local markets across the rhône valley. they began bottling their own côte-rôtie in 1991, expanding it further when their son yoann joined the business in 2004. initially the family sold all their grapes to the local ‘negociants‘ but they are doing so less and less as yoann‘s wines are being recognized and experiencing increased demand. today, the françois family owns four hectares in côte-rôtie. these vineyards are situated in the lieu dit of ‘les rochains‘, ‘la brosse‘, ‘rochin‘ and ‘le bourrier’. the vines are low yielding and are harvested by hand due to the steepness of the slopes. grapes from the young vines are sold to ‘négociants‘ or are used for their earlier drinking igp syrah. only the best and most expressive grapes are used to make their côte-rôtie. the françois family owns approximately four hectares of vines. its côte-rôtie is made using grapes from three south facing parcels: ‘les rochains’, ‘rozier’ and ‘le bourrier’ which account for about 1.5 hectares. all three vineyards are located in the ‘côte brune’ in the northern rhône. the vineyards are very steep, as they usually are in this area, and grapes can only be harvested by hand. the soil, mainly composed of mica-schist, is rich in minerals and has proven a good base for the 30-year-old vines of syrah and viognier. the vines are planted at a density of 8,000 to 9,000 per hectare and yields are 35 to 40 hectolitres per hectare.