2024 Domaine Lionel Faury, Syrah “Les Hautes Ribaudes” Collines Rhodaniennes, Northern Rhone Red, France.
This bottling is remarkably poised and delicious with loads of dark fruits, florals, spice and subtle earthiness, which really shines here in this 2024 vintage with boysenberry, blueberry, plum and black cherry fruits, as well as some fresh acidity bring lots of lift and vibrancy, making for an exciting youthful Syrah. There is a classic pure Syrah essence on display and this Collines Rhodaniennes delivers pleasure and complexity beyond its humble labelling, very Crozes-Hermitage like, without any oak influence, the fruit here gives everything you need and doesn’t lack for anything. This deep garnet/purple Syrah, laced with violets is beautiful and balanced in the glass and background has subtle mineral, white pepper, lavender, kirsch, chalky earth and just a hint of licorice. This lightly savory, crunchy young Syrah has ripe tannins that hold things together, but they are not aggressive in this medium bodied wine, which allows for joyous early drinking pleasures. This wine, with grapes sourced from vineyards situated on exposed plateaus higher in altitude than Saint Joseph, just above the hamlet of La Ribaudy, and from vines on granite soils that were planted between 1995 and 2007, is a must have for northern Rhône fans and bargain hunters. For special occasions, this label, imported by the famed Kermit Lynch, makes a don’t miss and beautiful Condrieu, one of my own guilty pleasures, and the mentioned Saint-Joseph, maybe Faury’s signature wine.
The Domaine Faury, founded in 1979, now run by Lionel Faury, makes, as I’ve said in my reviews here for more than a decade now, some classic and wonderful wines from the Northern Rhone, I have raved about about their Condrieu and am very impressed by the Domaine’s St. Joseph wines, but this wine is just plain fantastic and one of the best values in Syrah that I have come across yet. This wine, a new companion to other Collines Rhodaniennes bottling known as Domaine Philippe Faury’s, Syrah “L’ Art Zele” Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes, under Lionel’s dad, that was always a favorite of mine and it was great to discover this “Les Hautes Ribaudes” under Lionel’s own label and see that it is even better! Mostly known for the classic Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu and especially Saint-Joseph bottlings, the Faury’s have long been a presence in the northern Rhône, but only truly gained attention in the States because of Kermit Lynch, who brought Philippe’s wines over to America, joining his elite group of Rhône legends, like Auguste Clape and cult hero Thierry Allemand. This Les Hautes Ribaudes was fermented with just about 20% whole cluster and saw, what the winery says was a 10 day maceration in temperature-controlled cuves with daily punch-downs and pump-overs to keep the cap wet and under the juice. After primary was completed the wine was pressed to demi-muids for the competition of malos, after which it was aged about 6 months in these larger oak casks and bottled to preserve freshness and detail, as seen here! Lionel Faury has really matured into a star here in the northern Rhône and I highly recommend his wines, they are wonderfully crafted gems and stellar values still and surprising under the radar.
($32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive