2021 Domaine Clos de la Bonnette, Vieilles Vignes Syrah, IGP Collines Rhodaniennes, France.
One of the surprise wines of the night, during a recent blind Rhône varietal tasting, this gorgeously pure Domaine Clos de la Bonnette old vine Syrah way over performed its price point and you can tell it has a more serious pedigree that the label would suggest. This dark opaque purple/garnet hued wine comes from all organic vines above of the Tupin-Semons area in Ampuis, which is just bordering Côte-Rôtie AOC and has a very terroir influenced medium bodied palate of boysenberry, damson plum, blueberry and cherry fruits, along with a pretty sense of violets on the nose, as well as savory tones, delicate earthiness, grilled herbs, graphite, anise, black olives and peppercorns. The tannic structure is firm, but supple in the mouth and nice acidity heightens the experience here and the finish is lingering with hints of mocha, cedar and creme de cassis coming through, it will impress any Syrah fan and is best enjoyed with a hearty meaty meal. I absolutely loved this wine and I am looking forward to trying more from this winery in the future, I also highly recommend chasing down this under the radar IGP Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah that is sourced from vines planted between 1950 and 1972.
I don’t remember having Domaine Clos de la Bonnette before, but this wine really has peaked my interest in this winery which was established in 1992 by wife and husband team, Isabelle Guiller and Henri Montabonnet and is best known for their Condrieu and Côte-Rôtie bottlings, as well as restoring some ancient terraces and long lost vineyards, obviously to good effect, as seen in their wines. The Guiller-Montabonnet family, who had grown organic fruits and vegetables since 1970 have deep roots in the Rhône and have done lots to revive old traditions and promote historic ways of life and culture here. The complex terroir here includes the harsh Mistral wines and cool nights, even with the warm Summer days and the soils are, just outside of Côte-Rôtie, clay based schist, alluvial stones and have depleted silt, which leads to the balance and depth of fruit. For this wine, Domaine Clos de la Bonnette uses all carefully hand picked grapes, 100% Syrah, with 90% de-stemmed berries and 10% whole cluster, that sees a 20 day maceration. The primary fermentation is done with natural indigenous yeasts and saw daily pump overs and punch downs, after which the wine is racked to used French oak 228L barriques where is was matured for 12 months. Clos de La Bonnette is very much an estate to follow, I’m thrilled this wine was included in the tasting, and tasted blend, as it proved without prejudice that it was a fabulous example of varietal and place, along being a terrific value!
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive