Bieler Père & Fils, La Jassine, Côtes du Rhône Villages, France 2021

“Beautiful on the nose with brooding raspberry, black cherry, garrigue (rosemary, thyme), chocolate and tobacco which builds and concentrates on the palate. The mouthfeel is rich without being heavy and maintains freshness thanks to the hilltop fruit and norther latitude. Tannins are soft, round and inviting.”

The blend is: 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah. 100% of the fruit is from vineyards owned and farmed by the Lavau family in the Village of Valréas in the Southern Rhône Valley. As such, the wine can be called Côtes du Rhône Villages, as opposed to simply Côtes du Rhône.

All the fruit comes from Valréas, which is distinctive for two reasons. Its hilly location on the east side of the Rhône means much cooler nights and gentler ripening relative to the valley floor. It’s also the traditional breaking point in the Rhône where you see a shift to more Syrah than Grenache. Grenache is more heat loving than Syrah, and Valréas generally marks where it was potentially too cool to ripen Grenache properly, which was very much the case. Over the last decade, particularly the relatively warm vintages have been a godsend to Valréas, as the principal grape, Grenache, is ripening beautifully and slowly, meaning loads of flavor and developed structure. This balance of power and freshness is what Bieler Père & Fils into Valréas, as so much of the southern Rhône, particularly on the valley floors, has become incredibly hot.