2000 Domaine Gramenon, Cotes du Rhone Rouge, Le Gramenon, Rhone Valley, France.
Another gem from a perfect cellar, the Le Gramenon Cotes du Rhone 2000 is drinking amazing with remarkable elegance and depth of flavors with plenty of maturity, but with lovely freshness, this little Cotes du Rhone is drinking better than a lot of top Chateauneufs at this point. The Domaine Gramenon was founded back in 1979 and has been a leader of biodynamic, organic and holistic natural wines in the region ever since, making this 2000 vintage an even greater and welcome surprise, that it has aged so gracefully and with impeccable clarity is a testament to the care in the vineyard and run the cellar by the Aubèry-Laurent family. The 2000 Le Gramenon shows Syrah like essences with waxy blueberry, violets and some savory elements, which is not uncommon for wines in this part of the southern Rhone, like Saint Cosme’s Cotes du Rhone, that is made from 100% Syrah, and the palate is mineral toned, softy tannic and medium bodied at this point in its life with an array of pretty red berries, a touch of stewed plum, that is very much in line with this wine’s age, light peppery spices, a touch of iron/meatiness, dried porporri and old cedar. This dark garnet/ruby (with just a hint orange on the edges) Cotes du Rhone opens nicely and holds on, it doesn’t crash into a sous bois or balsamic mess, instead the fruit stays sweet and even pairs well with hearty foods, which I maybe unfairly chose to match it with, in fact it never lost its sense of poise throughout the few hours I was sipping it.
Domaine Gramenon, based in the Vinsobres zone, as importer, the famed Kermit Lynch explains, is the authentic embodiment of the (natural winegrowing and no additions in the cellar) philosophies that the Laurents espouse, adding that, they do not merely champion (their) organic farming, but they incorporate the concept of sustainability into their daily lives by growing their own food crops and raising their own animals. The domaine bottles an AOC Vinsobres of course, plus many single cru wines from parcels, of mainly Grenache, but with lots of Syrah too, their own Côtes-du-Rhône Appellation vines, all of which are located around the domaine and set on clay and limestone soils with some plots seeing classic galets, the large river stones that are most notable in the Chateauneuf du Pape area. Domaine Gramenon, now led by Maxime François Laurent, uses gravity-fed tanks, cement and stainless to ferment, with indigenous yeasts and no additions, with exceptionally low sulfites (SO2) and age the wines in a combination of well used (neutral) oak demi-muids and foudres. As this very old Cotes du Rhone shows the wines has exceptional purity and lasting vibrancy and anyone that loves the Rhone, will want to explore the range of wines made here at Gramenon, I recommend, especially, the 100% Syrah Sierra du Sud Cotes du Rhone and the Ceps Centenaires La Mémé, that comes from 100 plus year old Grenache vines!
($40 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive