Xavier Gerard's baby Condrieu made from Viognier from Vérin, above Condrieu. 80% steel vat, 20% 300-litre & 600-litre oak cask fermented at 15°C, raised 6-8 months away from its lees in 22 hl large barrel & steel vat, malo usually blocked, first wine 2006 (600-litre cask, the oaked part of it, malo not completed) yellow colour; pear, apricot feature in a bouquet that is nicely funnelled. There’s a good run of spiced fruits along the palate. That carries a nice bit of weight, nice detail.

Outstanding. Floral, herbal and gorgeous bright red and black fruit on the nose, The palate is divine with it's exquisite purity and balance. Great at the table with both savoury and sweet dishes.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The 2021 Santenay 1er Cru Le Beaurepaire is especially good, and the vintage would have appeared to have played to this site's strengths. Delivering musky aromas of orange oil, bergamot, nutmeg, peach and pear mingled with hints of freshly baked bread, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and charming, with a fleshy, enveloping core of fruit, lively acids and an open but precise profile." 94 pts

Old vine Grenache grown on decomposed black schist with a limestone sub soil with some quartz, that produces something amazing. Ethereal, sublime and fresh, this achieves a level of finesse akin to fine red Burgundy. Remarkable, special, very good indeed.

Old vine Grenache grown on decomposed black schist with a limestone sub soil with some quartz, that produces something amazing. Ethereal, sublime and fesh, this achieves a level of finesse akin to fine red Burgundy. Remarkable, special, very good indeed.

Old vine Grenache grown on decomposed black schist with a limestone sub soil with some quartz, that produces something amazing. Ethereal, sublime and fresh, this achieves a level of finesse akin to fine red Burgundy. Remarkable, special, very good indeed.

This domaine's showpiece wine is made using the best Chardonnay grapes, fermented and matured in French oak. Burgundian and silky in style, "Lemon zest and lemon juice to the fore here, a bright, zesty expression, with pear and apple too, lightly on its feet....it has lovely freshness". Natalie Earl, Decanter Magazine From jancisrobinson.com Certified organic. From four plots of 26 to 46-year old vines grown amongst oak trees at 350m and on rolled pebbles and limestone. Hand-picked and hand-sorted, low-pressure pressing, free-run juice only. Malolactic fermentation is in 225-litre oak barrels, which is where the wines are aged. Gentle lees stirring for the first four months. Unfined. Château Rive-Blanques now belongs to Pierre Bories’ Artisans & Partisans group of estates. "Rich, nutty (even a little caramelised) and streaked with fresh garrigue. As with their Dédicace Chenin, the acidity feels softer and more muted than I’ve come to expect with R-B wines, but there is a firm hazelnut and walnut framework around the fruit, so the texture and structure is there. Touch of liquorice on the finish gives it a nice twist". 16.5/20

Viognier (1984-85) from 1.1 hectare on Côte Châtillon at Condrieu, raised 50-60% 22 hl large oak barrel and 40-50% steel vat, malo completed. "fine yellow robe; the nose is very elegant, composed of peach, aniseed, white plum, has an excellent floating style, grace. This is top tack! It has much suavity of texture, with very assured persistence, is refined and gliding throughout. It’s real good Châtillon, bang on the money as it should be. It bears neat iron touches, has a pear-buttery flavour, and butter-floral late moments, a dab of petrol also. Much refinement here." Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth

Final assemblage: 55% Syrah, 35% Carignan & Cinsault and 15% Grenache Noir. Organically grown on schist, basalt and grés (sandstone) that yielded beautifully balanced fruit but at a very low 15 hl per ha. Manual harvest into small caskets. The Syrah and Grenache were both destemmed and vinified separately in 2yr and 5yr old 500l barrels (Saury). The Carignan was vinified on stems and in steel tank. The Cinsault was destemmed and vinified in steel tank. Natural yeast (no inoculated yeast used). Breeding took place in 2yr and 5yr old 500l barrels (Saury) for the Syrah and Grenache, and in steel tank for the Cinsault and Carignan, for a total time of 32 months with no batonnage. Bottled without fining or filtration. Bottled with a very, very low addition of sulphites (no sulphite additions at any point previously). No other additions at all. The wine has interest, complexity and depth, it is beautifully resolved - an elegant and pretty red-fruited wine with delightful freshness and length. With this quality and with the wines age, it’s a very nice offer indeed. The wine was selected (with one of the very highest scores) as one of 80 ‘Coups de Coeur’ by Guide Gault & Millau for the year 2020 Review below - "The colour appears black, intense with purple reflections. The nose presents an elegant maturity with predominantly fruity cherry and blackberry punctuated by spicy notes (pepper, cinnamon). In the mouth, the cherry is very present with other stone fruits (plum, prune). The leather and cocoa prolong a very fresh and digestible finish. The texture is dense and velvety. A complex and racy wine that evolves beautifully without losing its beautiful tension".

Natural, biodynamic and vegan. Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre from 80 year old vines, Made without filtering or fining. Pale but gorgeous mid red colour. At first on the nose, you are like "What even is that?". Whatever it is, you know that you like it. Elegant, subtle fruit is intermixed with gentle herb, earth and savoury characters. Deep and wonderful. On the palate the wine is elegant and deep again, but not heavy in the slightest. Ruffled fruit and savoury notes with minerality and real finesse. These wines are like no other from the Roussillon. Outstanding.

Energy is a word used a lot by the finest Roussillon growers. We don't think there has been a finer example than this extraordinary wine from the freres Danjou. The 2019 is more 'Cote-Rotie' than the 'Crozes like' 2018. A thrilling wine.

Natural, biodynamic and vegan. Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre from 80 year old vines, Made without filtering or fining. Pale but gorgeous mid red colour. At first on the nose, you are like "What even is that?". Whatever it is, you know that you like it. Elegant, subtle fruit is intermixed with gentle herb, earth and savoury characters. Deep and wonderful. On the palate the wine is elegant and deep again, but not heavy in the slightest. Ruffled fruit and savoury notes with minerality and real finesse. These wines are like no other from the Roussillon. Outstanding.

Energy is a word used a lot by the finest Roussillon growers. We don't think there has been a finer example than this extraordinary wine from the freres Danjou. The 2020 is more 'Cote-Rotie' than the 'Crozes like' 2018. A thrilling wine.

Energy is a word used a lot by the finest Roussillon growers. We don't think there has been a finer example than this extraordinary wine from the freres Danjou. The 2020 is more 'Cote-Rotie' than the 'Crozes like' 2018. A thrilling wine.

Natural, biodynamic and vegan. Grenache, Carignan and now (for the first time) Mourvedre from 80 year old vines, Made without filtering or fining. Pale but gorgeous mid red colour. At first on the nose, you are like "What even is that?". Whatever it is, you know that you like it. Elegant, subtle fruit is intermixed with gentle herb, earth and savoury characters. Deep and wonderful. On the palate the wine is elegant and deep again, but not heavy in the slightest. Ruffled fruit and savoury notes with minerality and real finesse. These wines are like no other from the Roussillon. Outstanding.

From Yves Falmet: My ‘A Contre Courant’ label is made from grapes from the oldest Carignan and Grenache plots in my vineyard. But what makes this wine outstanding is its maturation under a veil of yeast for four years. Wines matured under a veil of yeast are characterised by the spontaneous development of yeasts which form a veil on the surface of the wine in contact with the ambient air (during its barrel ageing phase). This technique, which is uncommon for wine because of the risk of acetic souring when stored in containers with ullage, gives it specific aroma and flavour characters of fig, tobacco and candied cherry and a substantial finish on the palate. Of the very few wines matured this way, Vin Jaune from Jura is particularly renowned, but there are no red wines. By maturing a red wine using this technique, I am actually going counter to modern standardised winemaking, hence the name of the wine, which means "flying in the face" of established standards and the "tastefully correct". This is a wine I have created for true wine enthusiasts, those who do not resign themselves to the standardisation of taste, to stereotyped and uniform wines, in short, to the prevailing trend for ultra-conformism.