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WHAT’S IN A NAME?: REMARKABLE 2016 RHONE

What’s in a name? Well, with wine, a couple of words on the label can make an enormous difference in one’s expectations of the bottle, and the price. Sometimes those ‘words’ can work against you. Take the term ‘Cotes du Rhone’. Thanks to years of history, a Cotes de Rhone is considered to suggest a wine is an ‘entry level’ offering, and a lot of people do not have great expectations of something with such a title. Exceptions to that thinking abound in the Rhone, however, where a few feet and an invisible line drawn can totally change what the wine from a particular place is allowed to call itself, but not what is in the bottle.

We don’t mid working a little harder to get our point across. Things like Chateau Rayas’ Fonsalette or Vieille Julienne’s Clavin are notable exceptions that don’t fit neatly into the standard definition of Cotes du Rhone. They are exceptional wines that come from exceptional parcels that happen to be just outside the line. A few feet over and they could be called Chateauneuf, and the price would be substantially higher. Today’s offer, the Domaine de la Janasse Cotes du Rhone Les Garrigues 2016 is another of those that is exceptional ‘Chateauneuf’ in everything but name.

Les Garrigues is a 2.5 hectare plot of 100 year old Grenache vines located in the village of Courthézon and just outside the boundary of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The soils here are a fine, pebbly, red clay covered with gnarled, mistral-blown vines. In terms of terroir, this is more classically Châteauneuf than Côtes-du-Rhône and the Garrigues is made in a similar fashion as the estate’s Châteauneufs – 25% whole cluster fermentation in oak vats, a 21 day maceration and daily, manual pigeage followed by aging in foudre.

This is a powerful mouthful showing deep kirsch and even rolling into blue fruits which gave us the impression there was Syrah in it (there isn’t). Absolutely packed, flecked with notes of anise, spice, and a little garrigue, this is a muscular version that conforms to this once-in-a-lifetime vintage’s profile with layered fruit that is at once plush and lifted, supple tannins and well tucked in acidity. It definitely ‘scored’ as well as a lot of ‘real’ Chateauneufs, and one has to even give it a little upward room as it was tasted alongside two ‘wine-of-the-vintage’ candidates in Jansse’s Chaupin and Vieille Vignes offerings and their best regular cuvee ever in 2016.

This was as high a number as Jeb Dunnuck has thrown Garrigue going back to his Advocate days, “Bottled in February (slightly earlier than the Terre d’Argile), the 100% Grenache 2016 Côtes du Rhône Les Garrigues boasts awesome notes of kirsch liqueur, crushed rocks, framboise, pepper, and graphite. This sexy, full-bodied, yet incredibly elegant red has building tannin, a seamless, silky texture, and no hard edges. Pure, elegant and seamless, it’s a thrillingly satisfying wine…94 Points.”

From Joe Czerwinski, robertparker.com, “There was only one 32-hectoliter foudre (now bottled) of the 2016 Cotes du Rhone Les Garrigues, an all-Grenache cuvée vinified with 50% whole clusters. It’s floral and herbal on the nose, with bold flavors of blackberries and licorice. Full-bodied and richly concentrated, it boasts supple tannins balanced by hints of brine and fresh acids. It’s easily the equal of many Châteauneufs… 93 Points.”

That last line is exactly our point. It is the equal of many Chateauneufs (better than a lot of them, too) and a spectacular effort even within the context of this historic vintage. At $39.98 it is priced like a lot of Chateauneufs, granted. But what a wine! In our minds it is Chateauneuf in the glass even if it doesn’t say it on the label. Just another superb effort from Janasse and a bargain in their lineup. Good hunting.

A NEW CHATEAUNEUF STAR IS BORN

The wine business might seem ‘cool’ and even somewhat glamorous to some. But ultimately it is a business with all of the politics, broken promises, and disappointments that can be a part of any business. There were a lot of reasons we could have passed on this wine. The purveyor had presented us the hugely reviewed 2016 vintage but somehow it all disappeared before we got any.

The 2017s, while very good, followed a vintage-of-a-lifetime in the southern Rhone in 2016 where we had sold (and continue to sell) huge quantities. There was no hurry to get engaged in 2017s for a number of adjunct reasons. Their time will come but the marketplace still contains a fair bit of available wines that had superb reviews from a highly touted vintage.

Given all of that, and the fact that the quantities were not sufficient to support a full blown email offer, it would have been very easy to pass this one by. It’s not like we needed another Chateauneuf. But we couldn’t say no. The Clos St. Antonin Chateauneuf 2017 was, very simply, too good! The nose of cured cherries and spice soared from the glass and pretty much announced the wine the way a herald would announce royalty entering a room. In the mouth, the wine was vigorous, persistent, engaging, and complete presenting a broad swath of vibrant red fruits with all of the inlaid nuance one could ask for.

You may not know the name. The Clos St. Antonin as it exists today only started with the 2015 vintage. Put together by Aime Sabon and his daughter Isabelle, from a contiguous parcel of old vines purchased in the Cotes du Rhone, plus some property from Domaine de la Janasse’s Chateauneuf holdings where this wine originated, this is a new and clearly estimable player to hit the market.

There hasn’t been much said about this wine other than an enthusiastic piece from Jeb Dunnuck, “The same mix of La Crau, Font de Loup, and Saint Georges lieux-dits brought up in a foudre, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape has a Rayas-like bouquet of kirsch liqueur, candied rose petal, orange zest, and spice. It’s incredibly polished, elegant and layered on the palate, with fine tannins, terrific balance, and a great finish. This is a brilliant wine I’d be thrilled to have in the cellar…94+”

He went on to say, “I continue to love these wines from Clos St Antonin… Along with Chapelle Saint Theodoric, they’re the closest thing to Rayas out there.” The ‘plus’ after the 94 suggests that the wine could well merit a higher review later. The comparison to Rayas is ‘next level’.

Isabelle has quite the touch and her wines deliver a mouthful of fruit while still retaining poise and elegance. Back in the old days we’d probably say it was a ‘woman’s touch’, but it is unclear if one can make that kind of statement any more. Clearly her Janasse pedigree is evident, but the wines have a personality all their own. This is a brilliant effort and an important new label (her 94 point 2016 Cotes du Rhone Plan de Dieu is ‘aces’ as well). Too bad there isn’t more.

RHONE 2016: AN IMPORTANT NEW/OLD FACE

At this point we’ll presume that you have heard us wax poetic about the 2016 vintage in the southern Rhone on multiple occasions, so we’ll cut right to the main story. Even in a place with the long history of the Rhone, there are new stories and exciting new things to discover. The land, of course, has always been here, and farmhouse from which the property takes its name, St. Antonin, has been in references back to the time of Napoleon and was built in the 17^th Century. What made the big change at this property, and likely the reason you re hearing about it today is the new ownership circa 2014.

A number of serious Rhone domaines have looked to this area, called Plan de Dieu, as a place that provided terroir that is not unlike Chateauneuf itself and offers the opportunity for expansion. But here estates with contiguous holdings of clay, galet, and sand soils, don’t come up very often. When this one did, the Sabon family was on it. Now there are a few Sabons in the Rhone. But this particular family of Sabons are the folks that own the iconic Domaine de la Janasse in Chateauneuf.

This new domaine of 15 hectares, plus a couple of hectares of Chateauneuf transferred from Janasse to the Clos St. Antonin estate, are under the control of daughter Isabelle along with her father Aime. Certainly the succession of vineyard land (Napoleonic law and all of that) had a part in the creation of this project, but we are only focused on the juice itself. On that score, Clos St. Antonin is off to a whale of a start. These are only their second releases and, while the timing couldn’t have been better with respect to vintages, it is clear that Isabelle Sabon has quite the touch.

As we tasted through the lineup, we mused that her wines showed a deft hand and a certain refinement yet still delivered a substantial mouthful of rich, savory fruit. Brother beware, the lady has skills. The Clos St. Antonin Cotes du Rhone 2016 is a polished bargain at its price point and, as we have said on a few occasions with specialty Cotes du Rhone in 2016, her Clos St. Antonin Cotes du Rhone Villages Plan de Dieu 2016 could hang with the ‘bigger fish’ and outscored a number of Chateauneufs. The proof is in the glass.

Made from 80% Grenache, the balance Mourvedre and Syrah, all from 30-50 year old vines, it is raised in concrete tanks, foudres and neutral French oak demi-muids. We’ll let Jeb Dunnuck do the play-by-play, “…the 2016 Côtes du Rhône should be sought out by savvy buyers. Ripe, rounded, and incredibly sexy, with lots of kirsch and blackberry fruits, garrigue, and mineral notes, it has impeccable balance as well as purity of fruit. It’s a knockout Côtes du Rhône to drink over the coming 3-4 years.

This up and coming superstar of an estate was created by Isabelle and Christophe Sabon (of Domaine de Janasse) in 2015. The estate is located in the Plan de Dieu, northeast of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, yet they have access to some prime terroirs in Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the La Crau and Font du Loup lieux-dits. These are legit, awesome wines, and savvy readers need to get on board!... 91 Points “

Of the Plan de Dieu, “Even better, the 2016 Côtes du Rhône Villages Plan de Dieu has to be one of the great wines from this appellation, which comes from an ocean of vines located on the valley floor between Vacqueyras and Cairanne. Made from 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, and 20% Syrah brought up in foudre and demi-muids, it offers awesome notes of cassis, blackberries, spice box, and licorice. Ripe, full-bodied, and powerful, yet also balanced and pure, do your best to latch onto a few bottles…94 Points.”

Yes the field is crowded right now. But even in this current (though diminishing) sea of glorious southern Rhones, these are significant efforts. They are lush, engaging, pure and hedonistic, yet at the same time are beautifully aligned and somehow more precise than most. Like the man said, “savvy readers need to get on board.”