2022 Domaine de la Janasse Cotes du Rhone

The young Christophe Sabon holds sway here with great enthusiasm. He took over the domain from his father in the early 1990s and, as is so often the case, the development since then has been extremely positive. Christophe cultivates a total of more than 15 hectares of vineyard, all on very difficult surfaces of gravel, sand and large boulders. The sticks are more than 40 years old, in some plots there are sticks that are more than 80 years old.

The variety of different grapes is very large, including Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Marsanne, Roussanne, Carignan, Bourboulenc, Counoise. Low yields, often less than 30 hl/ha, are achieved by ruthless pruning and rigorous vendange verte. Christophe also works almost exclusively organically. The grapes are picked entirely by hand. Before fermentation the grapes are lightly crushed, followed by a long maceration of approximately 18 days. After temperature-controlled fermentation, the wines remain in large oak barrels. All wines are made classically and excel through the combination of strength and finesse.

The Côtes du Rhône from Janasse is a blend of 40% Grenache supplemented with Mourvèdre, Carignan, Syrah and Cinsault and is another beautiful vintage. The wine is medium-bodied, juicy and peppery with spices yet fresh. A very characterful wine and exactly what a good Cote du Rhone should be, but we can leave that to Domaine Janasse.