Newsletter: 2023 Gramenon 'La Sagesse' Cotes du Rhone

Newsletter: 2023 Gramenon 'La Sagesse' Cotes du Rhone
Grenache was a grape I never really paid attention to. I tended to dismiss it for being an over-cropped, innocuous red variety that was used to boost alcohol levels in inexpensive Côtes du Rhône. Then a very generous friend poured me a taste of Château Rayas, and all those erroneous assumptions about the grape went out the window. Certain wines have a way of doing that. 

When grown in the right spots and vinified with expertise, Grenache can be down-right magisterial. At it's apex, it produces wines with as much aromatic complexity and textural gravitas as any of the world's best. It has an incredibly unique ability to combine immense concentration and richness with finesse and grace. Wines with unyielding intensity concealed by apparent gentleness. 

Today's wine reminds me of Rayas in every way (except the price!). A regal wine, sourced from a single plot of gnarly old vines planted at high elevation on sandy soils (à la Rayas). It delivers the same ethereal balance between delicacy and sheer power, a marriage sought after in many wines, but achieved by so few.      
BUY NOW
A rare, 100% Grenache, Côtes-du-Rhône. Planted in the 1950's on a mixture of sand, clay and limestone. Biodynamically grown, hand-harvested and fermented using whole clusters with indigenous yeast in concrete tanks. Then aged in neutral oak barriques for one year before being bottled without fining or filtration.        

An intensely fragrant nose of grilled plum, boysenberry, black cherry, baking spices, Herbs de Provence, rose petal and sun-baked earth. The palate is expansive and lush with plenty of weight, concentration, and rocky minerals parried by velvety tannins and bright, red fruit acidity. A juggernaut of a wine, as good as Grenache gets.  
Michèle Aubèry-Laurent's story is remarkable. She and her husband created Domaine Gramenon in the northern reaches of the southern Rhône thirty years ago. They set out to make wines with as little human manipulation as possible. In 1999 her husband was killed in a tragic hunting accident and Michèle was suddenly on her own with their three children, vineyards, and the winery.

Devastated but determined, Michèle boldly picked up and moved forward, and over the years has catapulted Domaine Gramenon to cult status. Today she works the vines with her talented son, Maxime François. They farm using organic and biodynamic practices, with a strong non-interventionist stance in the cellars.  
2023 Domaine Gramenon 'La Sagesse' Côtes-du-Rhône  - $48.99

*SPECIAL NEWSLETTER PRICE - $44.99

To order, reply directly to this email or call me at 843.576.4845
Justin Coleman
Proprietor
Monarch Wine Merchants
CUSTOMER CARE

Contact

Unsubscribe
Back to Newsletters