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Our Most Beloved House Blend
Our Most Beloved House Blend
by Anthony Lynch by Anthony Lynch
A Featured Selection from The Wines We Drink Every Day Collection A Featured Selection from The Wines We Drink Every Day Collection
2022 Côtes du Rhône Rouge
2022 Côtes du Rhône Rouge
This southern French rouge amazes year in and year out
Forty-year-old vines
Selected by Kermit Lynch France | Southern Rhône | Côtes du Rhône
Half an hour east of Avignon, there’s a town whose name begins with Châteauneuf and whose vineyards are littered with the Rhône’s most quintessential terroir feature: the rounded river stones called galets roulés. No, I’m not talking about the Châteauneuf—Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which brought the region fame through its history of papal schism and legendary wines—but Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, a charming medieval village where our most beloved house blend originates. For this cuvée, the blend changes every year. We taste samples from twenty cuves and allow the vintage to guide our proportions of mostly Grenache and Syrah, along with some Mourvèdre, Carignan, and splashes of Marselan and Cinsault. As with many of the southern Rhône’s quintessential reds, this one originates from a galet-strewn terroir, which reflects the southern sun into the forty-year-old vines and yields an expressive rouge full of beautiful aromas and flavors of black cherries, stones, and a hint of black olive. Year in and year out, we are amazed to find this much southern French character and deliciousness at this price.
This southern French rouge amazes year in and year out
Forty-year-old vines
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2022 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 46% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 9% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan, 3% Marselan, 2% Cinsault |
Appellation: | Côtes du Rhône |
Country: | France |
Region: | Southern Rhône |
Producer: | Selected by Kermit Lynch |
Vineyard: | 40 years average, 36 ha |
Soil: | Alluvial with galets roulés (rounded riverbed stones) |
Aging: | Wine is aged in cement tank before bottling |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 14.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
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About The Producer
Selected by Kermit Lynch
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2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc “La Crau”
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe France | Southern Rhône
2022 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “Contre Couleur”
Domaine Gramenon France | Southern Rhône
2023 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “Il Fait Soif”
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2023 Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge “La Rubiconde”
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2019 Châteauneuf-du-Pape “La Crau”
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe France | Southern Rhône
2022 Vacqueyras Rouge “Floureto” MAGNUM
Domaine Le Sang des Cailloux France | Southern Rhône
2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc “Clos la Roquète”
Frédéric & Daniel Brunier France | Southern Rhône
2023 Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge
Selected by Kermit Lynch France | Southern Rhône
2022 Vacqueyras Rouge “Floureto”
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Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch