2018 Domaine A. Clape, Saint-Péray, Northern Rhône White, France.
The mature golden hued and silky smooth 2018 Clape Saint-Péray, a blend of 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, is drinking perfectly right now with loads of mineral, apple, peach and waxy notes leading the way on the medium bodied palate, along with lightly bitter almond nutty essences, verbena, unsweetened honey and orangey oily notes. This vintage is crisply dry, salty and has an undercurrent of wet stone and fig, a touch of herb and Marsanne’s more muted aromatics, making for a wine that excels with cheese and or poultry dishes. This white from the tiny appellation of Saint-Péray, which has to be Marsanne dominant, comes from 40 year vines set on clay and granite based soils, with the Clape family only having one hectare here. Saint-Péray is not a widely known terroir, it often gets overlooked when compared to Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage, as well as the legendary Hermitage, all made with the same blend of grapes, but it still has its fans, with the Clape version having its own cult like following. The Domaine A. Clape, which dates back to the early 1900s, is led by Pierre-Marie and his son Olivier these days and are very famous for their signature Cornas wines, making some of the most sought after Syrah bottlings in the world. The cement vat native yeast fermented Syrahs see loads of whole cluster and are wildly feral in style, and should not be missed by any Syrah lover.
Auguste Clape (Pierre-Marie’s famous dad) was one of the very first to bottle an estate wines in the Cornas, and helped make this region the world class it is today. Now, as Kermit Lynch, Clape’s long time American importer, notes, Pierre-Marie and his son Olivier, carry on Auguste’s legacy with honor and integrity by continuing to hand craft wines that are some of the world’s most desirable Syrahs. The 2018 Clape Saint-Péray Blanc was all hand tended and harvested with the usual breakdown of 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, as mentioned above, and saw a fermentation, according to the winery, in two-thirds in old foudres, large neutral wood casks and one-third in stainless steel tank. All of which allows for beautiful transparency, purity and the rounded textural quality seen here. The wine does go through full malolactic conversion, adding to the mouth feel and subtle creaminess and the wine was aged for 11 months, with a light fining of the lees, before bottling without filtration. Kermit Lynch says Auguste Clape, who came from generations winemakers, will go down in history as one of the greats here, who was a proud and uncompromising pioneer of fine winemaking in the Northern Rhône. With Lynch adding that the Clape Syrahs from the cru of Cornas have earned their place among the most celebrated wines of France, and I most definitely believe that as well, as I have long been a fan of these wines. My favorites, beyond the iconic Cornas bottlings, include this one, their Côtes du Rhône and the entry level Syrah, Vin des Amis. The Saint-Péray is highly allocated, like the Syrahs, and pretty rare, but findable for those willing to do a bit of searching.
($78-120 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive