The importer of Rayas in the US, only carries only two other CNDPs - Santa Duc and Jerome Gradassi`s. Lofty company, but testatment to what Jerome has done with his Grandfathers own vines in only a few years. The smallest producer in the town, with only 800 cases being produced in a typical year - the artisanal methods are still at play here - in the early years moving fermented juice from the ancient fermentation tanks by hand with only a rope and bucket as there was no other way to do it. He works with cooler climates: mostly the lieux-dits of Palestor, Bois Dauphin, and Cabrière, where he aims for elegance rather then pure power. These are artisanal CNDPs in the old school and are a brilliant value.
Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Les Cailloux Andre Brunel
An elegant, complex bouquet of white flowers, apricot, jasmineand lemon oil prefaces the 2023 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, amedium to full-bodied, pure and layered white wine with a fleshycore of fruit, bright acids and a lively, ethereal, floral finish.Seamless and perfectly balanced, this blend of 80% Roussanneand 20% Grenache, vinified in stainless steel and matured inconcrete tank, will age gracefully over the next 15 years. Thewine`s pH is 3.39." 94 Points, Wine Advocate."
A white made only from Roussanne, from a three-hectare parcel planted in 1909 in the cooler north of the appellation. Tiny yields, harvested later than younger vines, roughly 500 cases in a typical year. Jeb Dunnuck calls it one of my favorite whites in the world.
Xavier Gerard producers about 400 cases of this top-tier Condrieu from the slopes of the Cote Chatillon. 40 YO vines, and aged in mix of steel and large oak barrels. Very ageable.
Xavier Gerard producers about 400 cases of this top-tier Condrieu from the slopes of the Cote Chatillon. 40 YO vines, and aged in mix of steel and large oak barrels. Very ageable. `has a firm, broad bouquet with lift and some spontaneity, herbal tea and cooked pear airs. The palate gives an oily textured level of content with tannin in the second half, is very much a structured wine, de la terre. It’s intense late on, dried fruits, and firm lip smack there. It engages fully along the palate, doesn’t look left or right, drives on, has a solid aftertaste. It’s very true to its place, is STGT wine. Decanting advised. From 2024, no problem waiting` **** John Livingstone-Learmonth
A tiny organic estate in the Pilat massif, founded in 2010 by a grower who works alone across about 4 hectares. Condrieu is Viognier only: 100% Viognier from very young vines planted from massale selection. Perfumed and moreish.
Condrieu Hameau Touche Boeuf (Simon Gastrein) Le Saut de Lorette
Simon Gastrein trained for several years with André Perret at Chavanay, rented his first parcels in 2013 and founded Hameau Touchebœuf in 2017 at Bessey, south of Condrieu, in his grandfather`s house in the Pilat park. About five hectares on clay and granite, no pesticides or herbicides, everything worked by hand. This Condrieu is Viognier grown on steep slopes.
`From Gonon site at Malleval (1989, 1997 Viognier), fermented, raised 6-7 year oak casks 6-12 months, depending on how long the malo takes to happen, 1,200 b` JLL
Cotes du Rhone Blanc Lieu Dit Clavin Vieille Julienne
Jean-Paul Daumen took over from his father in 1990 and moved quickly to biodynamics; 22 hectares at the northern edge of Châteauneuf, nearly all north-facing. Clavin Blanc comes from a steep 1.5-hectare plot of marl and limestone, with vines averaging about 65 years old: a blend of classic Rhône whites. Jeb Dunnuck called the Clavin releases beautiful little gems of wines to snatch up.
Attractive yellow robe; the nose is cosy, gives an elegant, plump aroma of nectarine fruit, a hint of banana, ripe white plum, a touch of Comté cheese and its saline influence. The palate has stature, inner reserves, is a wine for la table, gives a shape resembling Hermitage blanc, its finesse and measured richness well tuned. This is top rank, STGT Crozes, very truthful and genuine, the gras compact, stylish and continuous. From mid-2022, can be decanted. 2032-34` ****(*) John Livingstone-Learmonth
The wines of Dard & Ribo enjoy a loyal following because they are totally delicious from the traps, but they are a noteworthy domaine for being one of the very first to work in a completely natural way, that prized juiciness and drinkability through low-fi vinifcation and meticulous organic farming.
`The 2011 Ermitage Cuvee de l`Oree comes from a lieu-dit known as Les Murets planted with 80- to 90-year-old Marsanne vines. The bouquet offers up scents of Asian spices, lychee nuts, white currant liqueur and peach and apricot marmalade. This stunning, honeyed, flamboyant white is perfection in a glass. Drink it over the next half century. Drink 2013-2027`, 100 Points, Robert Parker.
` Pale gold. Intense, sharply delineated aromas of fresh nectarine, pear nectar, orange, honey and pungent flowers, along with a smoky mineral overtone. Deeply pitched citrus and orchard fruit, peach liqueur and honeysuckle flavors stain the palate and become deeper with air, picking up a hint of toasted almonds and showing powerful back-end cut. The mineral and honey notes repeat emphatically on a strikingly long, focused finish that leaves juicy pear and floral notes behind. (Drink between 2024-2034)` 95 Points Josh Reynolds.
`Brilliant straw-gold. Powerful, mineral-accented orchard and pit fruit aromas are complemented by lemon curd, iodine and pungent floral accents. Intense, palate-staining pear nectar and Meyer lemon flavors show superb concentration. Definition and a sexy floral nuance build through the mid-palate. Opens up steadily on an extremely long, floral-tinged finish that emphatically echoes the pit fruit and mineral notes. (Drink between 2024-2034)` 96 Points, Josh Reynolds.
`Moving to the three single vineyard Hermitage Blancs, these are all perfect wines yet offer distinct characters. The 2019 Ermitage De L’Orée comes from more limestone soils in the Les Murets lieu-dit, on the eastern side of the appellation and was brought up in 15% new demi-muids. It reveals a vivid gold hue to go with gorgeous honeyed peach, white currants, quince, crushed stone, and white flower-like aromas and flavors. This full-bodied white has terrific concentration, a rich, layered mouthfeel, beautiful acidity, and a finish that just won`t quit. Offering more fat and opulence than the L`Ermite and more minerality than the Le Meal, this pinnacle Hermitage Blanc needs a year or three of bottle age, then should drink nicely for 5-7 years, at which point it`s best forgotten in the cellar for another decade. It should last for 20-30 years.` 100 Points, Jeb Dunnock.
The wines of Dard & Ribo enjoy a loyal following because they are totally delicious from the traps, but they are a noteworthy domaine for being one of the very first to work in a completely natural way, that prized juiciness and drinkability through low-fi vinifcation and meticulous organic farming.
The wines of Dard & Ribo enjoy a loyal following because they are totally delicious from the traps, but they are a noteworthy domaine for being one of the very first to work in a completely natural way, that prized juiciness and drinkability through low-fi vinifcation and meticulous organic farming.
`Firm yellow colour; the bouquet is elegantly rich, bears cooked citrus fruit airs, a nod of the head towards the tropics, pineapple included. The palate is nice and cool all though, gives a stylish richness, the texture silken. It ends with a roundness that pleases, is well co-ordinated, detailed and flowing white Hermitage. The aftertaste is buttery. From spring 2020. 2035-37` **** John Livingstone-Learmonth
`The bouquet is broad, shows hazelnut, a hint of aniseed, ripe peach, can spread further and emerge, walnut in the background, decanting helpful. The palate has a nutty debut, carries a line of freshness, neat spine, and that holds its direction in a linear manner, is lightly oily, in a quiet phase just now. There is solid gras within, tight, a little tannic. It’s taking its time. 14.5°. From 2026-27.` **** John Livingstone-Learmonth
`The nose offers a pinpoint hazelnut air, greengage plum, some fruit accuracy, is just starting out. The palate comes with vanilla, light oaking, some pep in its step, is linear, on white fruits, apricot, ends on caramel-toffee tones, roundness. It has good poise, is unhurried, its length ticking over well, and a fresh dab on the aftertaste, the length very correct. 14°. 2039-41` **** John Livingstone-Learmonth
`The palate glides along; there is toast on the debut, and good style in the apricot and quince fruit, some Poire William as well. It becomes chewy, and intensifies as it finishes, like a red wine. This is STGT wine. This has inner strength, and the freshness of the vintage helps to keep it moving. Good balance, a complete wine. 14°. 1,500 b as usual` ***** John Livingstone-Learmonth
Jean-Louis Chave launched his Sélection label in 1995 to work with fruit from trusted growers while he restored the family`s derelict vineyards in Saint-Joseph. Circa is 100% old-vine Roussanne from the granite slopes of Mauves, the only white in the range grown on granite, first made in 2009. The Chaves have made wine in the northern Rhône since 1481, and Jean-Louis has led the domaine since 1992.
The wines of Dard & Ribo enjoy a loyal following because they are totally delicious from the traps, but they are a noteworthy domaine for being one of the very first to work in a completely natural way, that prized juiciness and drinkability through low-fi vinifcation and meticulous organic farming.
Brothers Pierre and Jean Gonon have run this Mauves domaine since 1989, farming organically with massal-selection vines. The white comes from the Coteau des Oliviers above Tournon, reputed the finest site for white Saint-Joseph: Marsanne planted in 1958, Roussanne in 1974, about 80/20. Slow pressing, then barrel with lees stirring. A leading light of the appellation.
Brothers Pierre and Jean Gonon have run this Mauves domaine since 1989, farming organically with massal-selection vines. The white comes from the Coteau des Oliviers above Tournon, reputed the finest site for white Saint-Joseph: Marsanne planted in 1958, Roussanne in 1974, about 80/20. Slow pressing, then barrel with lees stirring. A leading light of the appellation.
Approx 160 cases - Cloudy yellow; the nose is broad, has a pear, elderberry air, is airborne. The palate flows smoothly, has good gras centre, is smooth, fine to the feel, with late tang. It’s not long-term, but is sympa, will be joli à table. It has more acidity than the next, cask part. 12.5°. 4 years 2) (amphore, Marsanne-Roussanne, sugars finished, 75% of the blend) **** pear elegance on the nose with gentle apricot. The palate has an appealing opening, holds joli, relaxed gras, is nicely curved, attractive, serene, calm, very natural." **** John Livingstone-Learmonth"
Marsanne / Rousanne. Approx 160 cases - Cloudy yellow; the nose is broad, has a pear, elderberry air, is airborne. The palate flows smoothly, has good gras centre, is smooth, fine to the feel, with late tang. It’s not long-term, but is sympa, will be joli à table. It has more acidity than the next, cask part. 12.5°. 4 years 2) (amphore, Marsanne-Roussanne, sugars finished, 75% of the blend) **** pear elegance on the nose with gentle apricot. The palate has an appealing opening, holds joli, relaxed gras, is nicely curved, attractive, serene, calm, very natural." **** John Livingstone-Learmonth"
`Yellow, quite a pale robe. Has a salty, spiced nose, dried fruits airs and a light note of peanut oil. The palate holds agreeable, rolling white fruit - peach, a little apricot - and some good style content as it ends, roundly, clearly, with joli length. There are hints of verbena in the flavour. Good, stylish Saint-Péray. 13.5°.` ***(*) John Livingstone-Learmonth
Vin de France Chasselas Domaine de L`Iserand (Magnum)
Jean-François Jeff" Malsert, a former restaurateur and natural-wine bar owner in Tournon, founded the domaine in 2011 on his grandfather`s land at Sécheras, in Saint-Joseph: south-east-facing granite and mica-schist terraces above the Iserand gorge. Native yeasts, almost no sulphur. Many rank him alongside Gonon, Souhaut and Dard et Ribo. The Chasselas comes from a plot he planted on the granite plateau for a fresh, light, low-alcohol wine: about 48 hours on skins, malolactic, six months in tank. Vin de France."
Vin de France Delire de Coppi Domaine de L`Iserand
Jean-François Jeff" Malsert, a former restaurateur and natural-wine bar owner in Tournon, founded the domaine in 2011 on his grandfather`s land at Sécheras, in Saint-Joseph: south-east-facing granite and mica-schist terraces above the Iserand gorge. Native yeasts, almost no sulphur. Many rank him alongside Gonon, Souhaut and Dard et Ribo. Sold as Vin de France."
50% Roussanne, 30% Marsanne, 20% Viognier from Rozay at Condrieu (Viognier, 0.65 ha), Vérin (Viognier, 0.1 ha), Ampuis (Roussanne, 0.3 ha), & 0.5 ha each of Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne (2018-20) on ex glacier soils at Péage de Roussillon (left bank, Isère, 38), direct press, 12 hrs at <15°C, then steel vat fermented at 16°C, raised 7-8 months, malo completed, first wine 2020, 7,000 b - John Livingstone-Learmonth
Founded in 1991 in Tupin-et-Semons, in the south of Côte-Rôtie, an estate that has farmed organically and vinified without additives from the start. Wine Spectator has scored its Côte-Rôties 92 to 94 points, calling them ripe and racy, but with nice cut." A low-intervention white outside the appellations, textured and savoury."
Founded in 1991 in Tupin-et-Semons, in the south of Côte-Rôtie, an estate that has farmed organically and vinified without additives from the start. Wine Spectator has scored its Côte-Rôties 92 to 94 points, calling them ripe and racy, but with nice cut." A low-intervention white outside the appellations, textured and savoury."
A white from the five-hectare, organically farmed estate Hervé Souhaut created in 1993 in Arlebosc, in the Ardèche hills across the river from Hermitage. Old vines on granite, natural winemaking. A Vin de Pays, outside the Saint-Joseph appellation.
Viognier Domaine de la Roche Paradis Collines Rhodaniennnes
Yann Menager founded the domaine in 2012 and now has 8.5 hectares across Saint-Joseph, Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie, tended organically, hand-picked and fermented with native yeasts. The cellar is a stone barn at 798 metres in the hamlet of Champailler, below the Roche Paradis. 100% Viognier, sold as IGP Collines Rhodaniennes.
