Herve Souhaut Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet Sainte Epine, IGP Ardeche, France 2024

The Saint Epine vineyard is located right behind Hervé and Beatrice Souhaut’s house in the village of Tourney. It lies on an extremely steep slope that is terraced with old rock walls. 100(+) year-old non-cloned vines on Schist soil.  Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without de-stemming. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks. The wine is bottled without filtration. The wine has a total SO2 of only 25mg/L.

The nose shows an explosion of spices, with notes of orange, anise and violets also being present. Baking spices carry on to a mineral-based palate where they meet red cherries and a big dose of black pepper. Great acidity gives the wine plenty of lift and leads to a long mineral and pepper finish.

Pairing: Lamb shoulder, prime rib or a porterhouse steak.