NEW! Cotes du Rhone Blanc 'Inopia', Rotem & Mounir Saouma, France 2021
NEW! Cotes du Rhone Blanc 'Inopia', Rotem & Mounir Saouma, France 2021
“Certainly among the very best Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages wines I've ever tasted.” - Matt Walls, Decanter (previous vintage)
Some might argue that it’s a bit of a stretch, asking folk to spend £36.00 on a white Cotes du Rhone, but there is a lot more to this wine than meets the eye, not just in terms of flavour (it’s a sort of flinty Burgundy/Condrieu mash-up), but when we looked into it a bit further (see below), having tasted it ‘blind’ among hundreds of others without knowing anything about it, it turned out that it was made by the owners of Lucien Le Moine, the superb Burgundy micro-negociant.
It’s an opulent blend of Roussanne, Grenache, Marsanne, Clairette and Viognier sourced from a kaleidoscope of terroirs and amidst the exotic yuzu, gold kiwi and honeysuckle flavours that you might anticipate from such a cocktail of grapes, there is a vital streak of grapefruit acidity and a sophisticated gunflint note, as you might find in a top notch white Burgundy. I'm underselling it, because we don't have a lot and I want it to go to people who don't need hyperbole to be convinced. You will not be disappointed. We’ll just say that we’ve never tasted a white wine from the Rhone quite like it. It’s the kind of wine that ought to give the Burgundians bad dreams. 14.5% alc. Drink now-2027.
Burgundy meets the Rhone - a little background
This blend of southern Rhone varieties is made by Mounir and Rotem Saouma, the couple who shot to superstardom with their iconic micro-négociant house, Lucien Le Moine, in Beaune and are now one of the most talked about names in Burgundy.
Loving the area of the southern Rhone and its wines and seeing the potential to acquire land there in a way that would not be possible in Burgundy, the Saoumas decided to take the concept of their Lucien Le Moine house and start making wines from Rhone varietals, but viewed through the prism of Burgundy, which includes the same approach to vineyard management, the same vinification and ageing methods and treating each barrel individually. It started with an opportunity to buy a somewhat neglected 5 hectare parcel adjoining some outstanding plots (notably Rayas's Bois de Rayas and the lieu dit ‘Pignan’), and today they farm a total of almost 9 hectares across 8 vineyards in all 5 villages of the appellation. It's a fascinating and unique style they have brought to this region.
Customer Comments(including previous vintages):
“Just opened our first bottle, WOW. Sarah and I both love it, very well discovered. Thanks for doing the hard graft for us....” - Mr. A. F.
“Very fine indeed.” - Mr. S.C.