Rhône Valley Archives

Loire Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019
Loire Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019

Loire Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019

By Jeff Miller|2019-02-12T13:48:42+00:00February 11th, 2019|France, Rhône Valley, Travel Report|

Our first day in the Loire brought us to a cloudy Touraine where we spent most of our day with the leadership team at Loire Propriétés, and checked in with Christophe Godet at Domaine de Marcé.

Loire Propriétés

Our tasting took place at Vignerons Oisly & Thesee, a cooperative holding 500 acres of mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc in the small towns of Oisly and Thesee which usually are considered the best in the Touraine region. You know by now how we feel about cooperatives – That when managed strategically they can turn out plenty of individual, engaging wines. Loire Propriétés is one such cooperative, and actually what you’d call a “supercooperative” (ie a large parent cooperative made up multiple smaller cooperatives). 250 winegrower members, organized into 10 smaller cooperatives, make up the group, many of who are bottling estate grown wines, some from iconic Loire chateaux! Sound interesting? Estate grown wines at a cooperative? Yes! As we’ve said before there are some progressive co-ops out there these days urging you to rethink everything you think you know about the category.

Caves de la Loire “Les Anges” 18 Sauvignon Blanc, juicy, very good

Les Anges 18 Chardonnay, boring, but full and fruity, would make people happy though

Caves de la Loire “Les Anges” 18 Chenin Blanc, crisp, more acidity

Caves de la Loire “Les Anges” 17 Pinot Noir, good, a little short on character, but what do you expect for pricing this sharp

Caves de la Loire “Les Anges” 18 Cabernet Franc, dry, aromatic, a little funky

Caves de la Loire “Elysis” 18 Rosé d’Anjou, fresh, nice sweetness

Vignerons du Pallet “Les Petites Sardines” 17 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie, easy, soft style

Vignerons du Pallet “Jubilation” 15 Muscadet Cru Le Pallet, complex, class

O&T 17 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, showing well, good acidity

Domaine du Grand Cerf 17 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, typical, full, juicy

Vins de Rabelais “Les Romances” 17 Vouvray, seems sweetish, but technically isn’t, apparently

Vins de Rabelais 15 Chinon “Fauteuil Rouge,” mature and rich, There is better value than this at LP

Les Roches Blanches 17 Vouvray full, typical, fresh

Chateau de Valmer 17 Vouvray, character, aromatic

Chateau de Brossay 18 Cabernet d’Anjou, flavor, full, some sweetness

Domane Croix St. Louis 15 Chinon, somewhat mature and boring

Chateau de Mauny 18 Rosé de Loire, some complexity and depth

Chateau de Mauny Crémant de Loire Brutt, fresh, soft, very good

Chateau de Brissac 14 Crémant de Loire Brut, fine, balanced, soft

Domaine Touchais NV Saumur Brut, serious, dry and fuill

Chateau de Valmer NV Vouvray Brut, rich, full, long, bravo

We tasted dozens of 2018 O&T wines from tank; most of which showed very well. Below is some tank tasting “reality television” for you:

Very good tasting overall. great stuff at very competitive prices. We pulled the trigger on Chateau de Mauny, Chateau de Valmer, and Vignerons du Pallet (including the very fine bottle aged “Jubilation” Cuvee). Does the whole Vignerons du Pallet thing perk your ears? This is a fairly small, atypical coop of 10 members, all from Le Pallet in the heart of Muscadet. They have 250 acres and an average production of some 800.000 bottles. All 10 members have their own properties, they bottle and sell a part of their production themselves and another part goes to the coop for use in a larger appellation “blend.” The President is one of the owners and so is the winemaker. The facilities are at one member’s winery. “Le Pallet” the vineyard is one of the Crus of Muscadet, there are seven crus in all, and is considered by many as the best. The soil is interesting, the northwest part of the town consists of light colored rocks (Roches Blanches) mixed with sand and the southwest area is dark colored (Roches Noires) and sand. Their “Jubilation” bottling referenced above represents a new movement in the appellation towards intense, bottle aged Muscadet with better selection, later harvesting, and longer aging on the lees. These wines are very different, more serious, fuller and real aging potential. For some stupid reason wines in this category cannot be called “sur lie” although they stay much longer on them. Odd.

Domaine Marcé

This Domaine is a few kilometers down the road from Les Vignerons Oisly & Thesee and the idea here is to bring you a premium Touraine Sauvignon option – Something a step up in price and complexity from O+T for the select few accounts smart enough to know how much value Christophe Godet can pack into a bottle. So many accounts are glass pouring “Vin de Loire” Sauvignon Blanc as a Sancerre alternative but this approach (something from an individualistic appellation) is a better way to go. In all this is an 80 acre estate, mostly planted to Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. A part of 12 acres has been classified as Oisly which is a new “Cru” similar to Reuilly, Quincy, or Sancerre. Farming at Domaine Marcé is organic, and most vines are pretty damn old. More tank tasting “reality television” for you below!

As you see above we tasted many different tanks of 2018 Touraine and Oisly Sauvignon with Christophe and overall we were able to leave with a better feel for this unsung appellation.

Domaine Marcé 18 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, good body, ripeness, balanced acid, a lot of Sauvignon for the price.

Domaine Marcé 18 Oisly Sauvignon Blanc, somewhat bigger and better but the price difference does not seem wholly justified this vintage.

Great domaine, great people. Let’s try to get more Touraine Sauvignon out there in the world shall we?

Rhône Valley (Part Three) – Winter 2019
Rhône Valley (Part Three) – Winter 2019

Rhône Valley (Part Three) – Winter 2019

By Jeff Miller|2019-02-08T16:43:21+00:00February 8th, 2019|France, Rhône Valley, Travel Report|

Day three in the Rhône meant a few lesser-known producers to most of you…

Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille

The brother/sister team of Laurent Fayolle and Céline Nodin operate this small family estate in Gervans, where they produce Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, and St. Peray. Crozes-Hermitage is a somewhat weird appellation – Originally it was close to the Hermitage hill, stretching to the North, covering a mere 750 acres in Crozes, Largange, Gervans and two other tiny villages where the soils are very similar to Hermitage. Over time the acreage was expanded by a whopping 3800 acres, but in another area, South of Tain- l’Hermitage, on totally different soils. The idea was that more production would make it easier to sell. This worked for the “new” production, but not really for the “old” as production is lower due to the (granite) soils and rather steep hills. This also explains a rather big difference in prices between the two. Fayolle is one of the very few “original gangsta” producers left, as they are focused on making wine from individual vineyards in the original appellation boundaries, most notably on sites known locally as Pontaix and the Clos des Cornirets.

Almost all of Fayolle’s wine is sold within France. We will take what we can get.

Mr. Laurent Fayolle himself

Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2017 St. Peray, 100% Marsanne, some new wood. Fairly unknown, but lovely wine, dry, floral, lots of flavor.
Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2018 Crozes Hermitage Blanc “Pontaix,” (from barrel), bright, citrus, showing well.

Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2018 Hermitage Blanc (from barrel), rich bordering on bombastic but with focus somehow, interesting stuff, can’t wait to see this in bottle.

Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2018 St. Peray Blanc (from barrel), Young, balanced, can’t wait to see this develop as well.

Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2017 Crozes Hermitage “Sens,” entry-level C-H, 30 year vines, including some purchased grapes, some new wood. Dark, fat, tannic, tight, very promising.
Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2016 Crozes Hermitage “Pontaix,” single vyd, 40 year vines, 20% new wood. More elegant, fine, balanced.
Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2017 Crozes Hermitage “Cornirets,” single vineyard, 60 year vines. Just bottled, but showing well, tons of fruit and full.
Domaine Fayolle Fils & Fille 2017 Hermitage, just bottled. Big boy, fat, concentrated, tannic, smokey.

2017 and 2018 are both very good vintages. We also like 2016 but note that wines from this vintage are different in style from the others, a little lighter and more elegant.

Crous St. Martin

The brother/sister duo of Eric and Veronique Bonnet led us through a packed lineup of new and upcoming releases at their home base of Domaine La Bastide Saint Dominique. The property sits smack dab in one of the best sections of Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Even as little kids they knew they were in a prime zone for Grenache, if they ran outside to play and veered right they were at Beaucastel and if they veered left a few hundred meters they ended up at Clos du Caillou! There are three things you’ll see coming out of this property, Domaine La Bastide Saint Dominique, the production of which consists of wines made from grapes on the estate, Reserve Saint Dominique which is a second label made from younger vines and some purchased fruit, and Crous St. Martin which consists of both estate and purchased fruit and is a collaboration between Eric Bonnet and our good friend Harry Bosmans. We are ordering our first shipments of Domaine and Reserve St. Dominique this month, and you can expect more information on that front (with more background, tasting notes, etc) closer to arrival (the final lineup of available states is still coming together). Let’s just say that there will be some excitement.

The lovely Eric and Veronique Bonnet!

While availability is pretty tiny, Crous St. Martin’s Cotes du Rhone is worth a mention here – The grapes come from the same spot that Beaucastel makes their Coudoulet from, a zone in the northern part of Chateauneuf du Pape just outside the official appellation boundary, as there weren’t vines in this area when the appellation was originally classified. The Rasteau was just outstanding – Rasteau is the only appellation in the Rhone where grey clay and brown clay both coexist at the root level, this results in a forward wine with violet pastille aromatics that you must experience firsthand…with that in mind I suppose we will import as much as we can get!

Crous St. Martin 17 Cotes du Rhone, full, rich solid.

Crous St. Martin 17 Rasteau, concentrated, big, outstanding.

Crous St. Martin 17 Gigondas, dark, big, fat, a little rustic

Crous St. Martin 17 CHN, typical, concentrated, well made

Crous St. Martin 16 Cairanne, typical, if a little lean. From the last plot of Cairanne on the Rasteau border, high proportion of Mourvedre

Crous St. Martin 16 Lirac, easy, tannic

Overall, very nice set of wines. Again, stay tuned for an announcement on the Domaine La Bastide St Dominique and Reserve St. Dominique wines.

Domaine Brunely

Madame Carichon led us through a quick lineup at this perennial, rustic favorite in Vacqueyras. Have a virtual tour of the property right here to get a better feel. Total holdings include 198 acres of vines spread between Vacqueyras, Cairanne, Ventoux, Gigondas, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Stylistically, winemaking veers towards the traditional spectrum here, where no wood is used other than in their Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Farming is natural.

Madame Carichon

Domaine Brunely 18 Vacquyeras Blanc (tank), Musky, tropical, big.

Domaine Brunely 18 Ventoux Rouge, spicy thanks to Syrah base, one hell of a wild Ventoux

Domaine Brunely 17 Ventoux Rouge,, similar to 18 but with tannin

Domaine Brunely 18 Cotes du Rhone Villages, mineral loaded, outstanding

Domaine Brunely 18 Cairanne, simple, a bit closed

Domaine Brunely 17 Vacqueyras Rouge, full rich attack, black fruit, power, length, nice square tannin

Domaine Brunely 18 Vacqueyras Rouge, closed, less intensity than the 2017

Domaine Brunely 17 Vacqueyras “Tour Aix Cailles,” Syrah and old vine Mourvedre make for “big everything,” dense without being syrupy, BRAVO

Domaine Brunely 17 Gigondas Rouge, fleshy, mineral

Domaine Brunely 17 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge, closed

Domaine Brunely 18 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge, deeper than the 17, slightly reductive now, huge tannin

Rhône Valley (Part Two) – Winter 2019
Rhône Valley (Part Two) – Winter 2019

Rhône Valley (Part Two) – Winter 2019

By Jeff Miller|2019-02-05T07:40:59+00:00February 5th, 2019|France, Rhône Valley, Travel Report|

We keep things going on day two in the Rhône…

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières is a very old family estate, whose name comes from a place of pilgrimage visited by the Provençal people in the middle ages who believed that the fountain on the property would protect them from the plague. Claude Roux and his cousin Jean-Pierre have so many generations of Gigondas wine making experience in their family that they don’t know exactly how many of their relatives have been involved up to now – Antique writings suggest that this Domaine existed as far back as the 900’s. Fortunately this tradition is continuing with Claude’s children, Isabelle and Julien, who are gradually taking over the day to day responsibilities of farming, production, and administration. Vineyard holdings total 74 acres in Gigondas, Sablet, and Cotes du Rhone and the winery is based in the center of their principal vineyard holding, a field of very old vines (mainly Grenache, many up to 110 years in age). This is a particularly interesting sub-site in Gigondas as it is set in a protected valley underneath the shadows of the iconic Dentilles de Montmirail. This means stronger and longer cooling winds versus other top estates in the region, which means more freshness in the finished wine. Even when you are driving up, you know you are rolling into something special:

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 17 Sablet Blanc “Montmartel,” open knit, tremendous purity, wish Sablet Blanc was easier to sell!

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 18 Cotes du Rhone, full, rich and unbelievably ready to go, good pedigree, this is mostly declassified Gigondas (!)

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 17 Sablet Rouge “Montmartel,” garrigue driven, higher % of Syrah gives this pepper notes and thick tannin, what a value

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 17 Lirac “Les Pellegrin” (tank), lots of CO2, need to taste finished wine

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 16 Rasteau “Les Ribes,” topsoil here is salmon orange from iron content, concentrated, very rustic example

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 17 Gigondas “Les Mourres,” dark, big, fat, integrated, lots to like here!

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallières 16 Gigondas “Bois de Mourres,” deep, tremendous concentration, still some obvious barrel flavors up front, we wonder what this would be like without the wood influence as the vine material is so good it is almost unheard of.

The highlights here, as usual, were the Cotes du Rhone, Sablet Rouge “L’Olivet,” the Cotes du Rhone, and the Gigondas “Les Mourres,” – All are naked examples of their kind and just screaming for the rustic bistro-like fare most of you enjoy making and devouring at home.

…or you could make your life easy and just drink it with giant fatty chunks of smoked pork jowl and back fat!

Domaine de la Charbonnière

Veronique Maret led us through an energizing “breakfast” of new and upcoming releases. Veronique is young, serious in the best way, and stacked with ambition. In her young but very capable hands this remains a traditional estate, and she has converted all of the Domaine’s farming to organic practices. The “entry level” CDP is outstanding, individual CdP cuvées are produced from the best blocks of the family’s best plots, and a sappy vielles Vignes blend is not to be missed in any vintage – in 15/16/17, as it contains a lot of Grenache from the La Crau vineyard in it, and as you likely know (unless you live under a bus) La Crau is one of the best individual plots in the entire appellation. We’ve had a stellar string of vintages here, let’s review them real quick as we have 2015 here and upcoming vintages allocated to us for shipment…The 2015 vintage is very good, typical warm year, the wines are a little closed now, should be better after a trip across the water. For us 2016 is better, more color, more elegant and a spicy character. The 2017’s are outstanding, dark, fat, polished and tons of fruit. This is mostly because of the small crop and the good growing season in CDP.

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, ripe, rich, soft, benchmark

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, fresher, pretty mature

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Vacqueyras, dark, typical, concentrated (there is only the straight V. in 17)

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge, concentrated, fruit, dark, full

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Chateauneuf du Pape “Mourre des Perdrix,” advanced, ripe, seems light

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Chateauneuf du Pape “Vieilles Vignes,” much better tight, concentrated

Domaine de la Charbonnière 17 Chateauneuf du Pape “Cuvee Hautes Brusquires,” focused, masculine, fruit

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Vacqueyras, dark, powerfull, tannic

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Vacqueyras “Cuvee Spéciale”, bigger, darker, dry now

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge, wonderfully balanced, full, typical

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Chateauneuf du Pape “Mourre des Perdrix, fine, fruit, soft

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Chateauneuf du Pape “Cuvee Hautes Brusquires,” More finesse than we’d expect from what is usually a “big” bottling, fresh

Domaine de la Charbonnière 16 Chateauneuf du Pape “Vieilles Vignes,”, focused, complete, concentrated

In an earlier tasting (Winter 2018) Frank thought 17 could be as good as 16 here, but our experience now indicates this may no longer be the case. Most of the 17’s are really good (you’ll all gush for them upon arrival in 18 months), but the 16’s are flawless, concentrated and balanced…They will

age well, but we would be tempted to drink them young. We will buy as deep as Verionique’s allocations allow, and smart merchants and somms will do the same!

Domaine Le Clos des Lumières

Domaine le Clos des Lumières is a 50 hectare family farm founded in 1946 by the grandfather of the domaine’s current vigneron, Gérald Serrano. The ambitious and talented Gérald Serrano is solely responsible for the recent “coming out” of this estate – Prior to taking things over in 2003 Gérald’s father was selling all grapes on the estate to the local cooperative. We had fun shooting VR pics with them, here is a look on Google Maps – They were intent on holding the pose which was basically perfect. The kid on the right? He is the newest generation, just started on the tractor, and you’ll get to know him well.

Having grown up on the property, Gérald is intimately familiar with the terroir here. The oldest vines now edge 60 years in age and this land really seems to “pack the character in.”. We’ve sold massive amounts of Rhone wine over the last forty years, and these are the most well-received Cotes du Rhone values we’ve carried in our history.

These guys seem to have a deep understanding of what’s going on in the vineyard and in the market, they are probably the hardest working partners we have, and as Frank will tell you it is pretty amazing to see how forward thinking they are. The potential here is huge, we have only scratched the surface. When they heard what we were up to last Spring in terms of the national expansion and the whole idea of “expecting some grapeness,” the Serrano family went out and bought another 70 acres of vineyard land, bringing their total holdings to 300 acres owned, plus substantial long term contracts. Between our two companies we have two parties ready to bring it!

Barrows ‘n hoses!

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDR Blanc, light, fresh, very good

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Chardonnay, full, round

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Viognier, a little low on aromatics, which to Frank is a good thing

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Caladoc Gris, fresh and fine, right color for Gris, 3.000L. available, which we reserved

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Caladoc Rosé, more flavor. Actually the same wine as the Gris, just a different part of the pressing

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Syrah Rosé, more structure, more acidity

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Grenache Rosé, typical, easy

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Petit Verdot, outstanding and interesting as there is little Petit Verdot and even less as Rosé. 9000L. available

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDR Rosé, full and complex

Domaine Clos des Lumières 17 Petit Verdot, dark, tight, depth

Domaine Clos des Lumières 17 Marsalan,/Syrah, dark, ripe, tannin

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Merlot, dark, full, fruit, tannin. Outstanding

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Marsalan, dark, soft lovely. 10000L. available

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 Syrah, dark, ripe, rich

Domaine Clos des Lumières 17 CDR, solid

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDR BIB, fruity, easy

Domaine Clos des Lumières 16 CDR Autrefois, rustic, ok

Domaine Clos des Lumières 17 CDR Autrefois,, beter, more fruit and tannin

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDR Autrefois, some reduction, should be fine

Domaine Clos des Lumières 16 CDRV, serious, a little mature

Domaine Clos des Lumières 17 CDRV, better now, concentrated

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDRV, the best.

Domaine Clos des Lumières 18 CDR sans sulfites, good

Among the new wines we committed to the Gris (everything available, working on the label this week), a starting load of half CDR bottles (filling your requests my friends), and we are working on new bag in box package because anyone who knows me well knows of my hatred for Papyrus font (and the new package is looking sick so get ready for some full delivery trucks and empty shelves).

The no sulfur bottling of CDR showed well – We will test some in the elements here in the US, and if it fails to referment or go wild on us you’ll be seeing that as well.

Rhône Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019
Rhône Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019

Rhône Valley (Part One) – Winter 2019

By Jeff Miller|2019-02-01T17:48:18+00:00February 1st, 2019|France, Rhône Valley, Travel Report|

Mike Temple had a soft spot for Rhône wines and therefore the region has always been a strength in our portfolio. We spent several days both on our own and with the perennially charismatic Harry Bosmans.

Arnoux Pere et Fils

Vacqueyras’ oldest winery, Arnoux is centered smack dab in the middle of Vacqueyras center and takes up a few blocks with its various buildings. From modern operations to traditional ones to inexplicably idiosyncratic setups, we pride ourselves in our diversity of tastes! For better or worse! Jean-Francois Arnoux is the latest generation of his family to run the ship at this historic house, and take us through a Rhône lineup he did. Tasting notes are below but the short answer is that we’ve made the decision to double down on what Arnoux does best – the old school, and you’ll see more quantity and more focus on their Vieux Clocher line from us in 2019 and beyond. Below is a video walk through of what has to be one of the more timeless cellar setups in the Rhône Valley.

Arnoux 16 Ventoux, dry, rustic

Arnoux 17 Ventoux, similar to the 16 just younger

Arnoux 17 Cotes du Rhone “Vieux Clocher,” some fruit, dry, rustic, traditional

Arnoux 16 Cotes du Rhone Seigneur de Lauris, richer fruit, garrigue, nice

Arnoux 17 Cotes du Rhone Seigneur de Lauris, fresher than the 16, slightly more going on

Arnoux 16 Cairanne “Vieux Clocher,” quite good, outperformed most of the Cairanne we’ve tasted on this trip, with the telltale floral Cairanne nose

Arnoux 17 Cairanne “Vieux Clocher,” more fruit, but dry right now, should come around well

Arnoux 16 Vacqueyras “Vieux Clocher,” good flavor, some fruit, traditional, we appreciate the style

Arnoux 17 Vacqueyras “Vieux Clocher,” somewhat lighter than the 16 but that is just fine with us, as it is, again, traditional

Arnoux 15 Vacqueyras 15 “Penitents,” fuller, but dry and d0ubling down on rustic

Frank interrogating Jean-Francois on adoption of modern hose storage practices

Domaine Pelaquie

I have to say this was one hell of an eye opening winery visit and it reminds me why we take these sleepless, jambon fueled journeys in the first place. We’ve long admired Pelaquie’s best in class examples of Laudun Rouge and Blanc, but never experienced their bombastic Cotes du Rhone values firsthand, at least not with an understanding of the simple but magic approach that results in a pure, focused, rich yet slippery core of Grenache goodness in every sip (sorry to tease, but more on Pelaquie’s proprietary technique later via video post to coincide with the arrival of the massive initial load of Cotes du Rhone Rouge and Rosè we booked on the spot…check back here in 45 days). Packaging was always a bit of an issue here but that was taken care of when we walked into the office and saw not one but three final draft options for a revised label that matches the spirit of this house. We decided on the below wardrobe, and the reference to Le Rive Droite (aka the underdog left bank of the Rhone) fits the whole spirit at Pelaquie like a glove. Frank will be the first to say that this is the finest Tavel in Tavel. All of you must agree if your appetite for it last year is any indication. 2017 was the warmest year in Lirac/Tavel/Laudun since 2003, but for some reason the whites have the highest acidity they’ve ever measured in the appellation…probably due to the 2-3 months with absolutely no rain which basically meant concentrated everything. Luc Pelaquie believes that in order to make balanced Rhone whites you need to use slow ripening varietals (ie Bourboulenc and Clairette). More than a few people will tell you that this little area here is the very best in the Rhone for expressive whites. We certainly feel that way right now.

Mocking up the final label tweak on a deliciously unfiltered Tavel tank sample!

Domaine Pelaquie 17 Cotes du Rhone Villages Laudun Blanc, led by Bourboulenc and Clairette but uses all six grapes allowed in the appellation. Very balanced, classic stuff even if rich this go-round
Domaine Pelaquie 17 Lirac Blanc, broad, waxy, full wood but plenty of accompanying acid, modern
Domaine Pelaquie 18 Tavel, firm but open, dark, settling out, another winner this year
Domaine Pelaquie 18 Cotes du Rhone Rouge (tank), rich and loaded with flavor, home run
Domaine Pelaque 17 Cotes du Rhone Rouge, garrigue loaded nose, lovely texture, almost silky, total steal
Domaine Pelaquie 17 Cotes du Rhone Villages Laudun Rouge, superpie Laudun, Mourvedre adds the structure and spice needed to keep this interesting
Domaine Pelaquie 17 Lirac Rouge, MEATY! Only Grenache and Mourvedre used here, lack of Syrah gives this a specific personality. Lirac and Rasteau have the best Mourvedre in the Rhone, and if you add even 10% Syrah it totally changes the wine so as Luc would say, why add it. Lirac is planet Earth’s absolute temperature limit for Mourvedre.

Another reason these are so good? Look at the thick old vines that surround the Domaine!