If the Beaujolais produces France’s quintessential bistro-quaffing reds, Alsace is arguably home to its white-wine counterparts. Regional blends like this blanc from Kuentz-Bas so often deliver unrivaled charm, food-friendliness, and value that they are an obvious choice when deciding which bottle to open for a potluck among friends or a family gathering. The 2023 Alsace blanc achieves the impressive task of balancing roundness and crisp refreshment, and its mouthwatering flavors of lychee, peach, and jasmine offer a perfect accompaniment to a wide variety of dishes, from grilled brats to your favorite bean salad.

Exciting things are happening in the Gard, that southwestern sliver of the Rhône Valley that’s home to some of France’s most awe-inspiring Roman legacies. Here is our second vintage of a Côtes du Rhône Villages made by a singular cave co-op known as Les Vignerons d’Estézargues. Championing organic practices in the vines and low-intervention techniques in the cellar, Estézargues has turned to gobelet-trained vines planted in galets-roulés-laden terroirs across the river from Châteauneuf-du-Pape for this cuvée. Spicy and fleshy, with notes of dark fruit, this is an expressive take on the Rhône that we’ve been searching for for a long time.

More on our collaboration with Les Vignerons d’Estézargues:
 
Launched with the 2022 vintage, the Côtes du Rhône Villages is a collaboration with Les Vignerons d'Estézargues, a co-op located on the right bank of the Rhône just south of Tavel. Founded in 1965, Estézargues has championed sustainable and organic viticulture and natural winemaking for much of its history, making it a rare exception for a co-op of its size. They work very closely with their growers, emphasizing organic farming, and manage their cellar with a judicious use of low-intervention techniques. Our cuvée is sourced from gobelet-trained vines on the nearby plateau of Signargues, midway between Tavel and the Pont du Gard, the famous Roman aqueduct. Promoted to Côtes du Rhône Villages in 2005, Signargues sits on an alluvial riverbed terrace from the Villafranchian era, the same soil as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape just across the Rhône. The endless expanse of galets roulés (polished riverbed stones) is the ideal terroir for producing wines of great character and typicity in this iconic sun-baked region. The bottle features no capsule, and the label was designed by celebrated French artist Michel Tolmer.