Wine Region
St-Emilion, France
Vineyard
Château Rocheyron
We are delighted to release the new vintage of Rocheyron, the Saint-Émilion estate of Danish superstar Peter ‘Pingus’ Sisseck.
Château Rocheyron is a return to Peter’s winemaking roots in Bordeaux. With his friend and business partner Silvio Denz, he has brought back to life this jewel of a property, located on the edge of Saint-Émilion’s limestone plateau.
Rocheyron, the château’s historical name, was the name of the family who owned it in the seventeenth century. The cellar and vineyard team is managed by régisseur Mathieu Raveraud (pictured here with Peter), who has worked alongside Peter here since the estate was acquired in 2011.
Rocheyron is now certified organic (since the 2020 vintage) and continues in the process of biodynamic conversion. As William Kelley has written “This eight-hectare estate in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes is characterized by high altitude and shallow clay soils over limestone, naturally delivering wines of energy and precision.”
And as Peter himself says in his quote above, the tiny 2021 vintage is not to be missed!
GUY SEDDON,
FINE WINE BUYER
JUNE 2022
2021 VINTAGE NOTES
Peter Sisseck described the 2021 growing season as “very complicated”. The winter was wet, and spring was warm, encouraging an early budbreak. Fortunately, frost in April and May did not affect the Rocheyron vineyards.
The June and July rains brought mildew however, which did affect the vines. Peter said that although they had battled with mildew in 2016 and 2018, in 2021, “it hit very severely”. In his words, “The real problem we had was the rain in July, which made it impossible to get into the vineyard and spray.”
Finally, two good months, in the shape of August and September, delivered warm weather and cool nights, allowing the remaining grapes to ripen slowly.
Harvest was late – the Merlot was picked on two days: 2nd and 5th October. The Cabernet Franc was picked on 13th October. The remaining grapes were very healthy, and fermentations were easy and fast. The malolactic fermentations finished in December. Alcohol is a natural 13% abv.
Production was down 46% on the previous year. Just 10,000 bottles will be produced. The yield was 15hl/ha – to put in context just how low this is, 30-35hl/ha is the aim, whilst the abundant 2015 vintage was cropped at 42hl/ha.

CHÂTEAU ROCHEYRON 2021
CHÂTEAU ROCHEYRON 2021
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Peter Sisseck’s Rocheyron is a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc in 2021 – the highest-ever proportion of Cabernet Franc. Wild strawberry and redcurrant aromas, with plum, orange rind and tobacco leaf. The palate revels in beautiful, pure raspberry fruit, guided by polished, supple tannins which allow the limestone texture to shine through and exert a stony-mineral grip. Fermented at 25°C, reaching a maximum of 28°C. The wine spent 30 days in concrete vats, before being transferred to oak barrels, 30% new. 13% abv.