Boutinot’s love affair with the Southern Rhône spans thirty years of making wine in the region. In 2010, the relationship was sealed with the purchase of a winery and vineyards above the village of Cairanne. Domaine Boutinot’s seven vineyards are planted with classic southern Rhône grape varieties, old vine Grenache Noir and Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan Noir, and they all sit within the Cairanne Cru boundaries, sanctioned in 2016 when Cairanne was granted its own appellation status. Working with their vigneron neighbours they are helping to revive traditional grape varieties such as Cinsault and Counoise, and in the cellar they prefer time-honoured winemaking methods such as a long cuvasion aided only by natural yeasts, gentle remontage, manual pigeage and patient maturation in a nursery of French oak barrels.