This is the email that I have been most excited to write about since I have returned from France as it about the vaunted 2015 vintage in the Northern Rhone which is even better then advertised. Much better. The murmurs started last year when I got back from France that something special was brewing. Growers kept saying the same thing over and over. There is nothing comparable. The wines are that good. Not 61, not 29, not 99, not '10. Better than all these vintages that are said in hushed tones and with reverence? If those are all said in hushed tones and reverence then I don't know what kind of tones the brilliant 2015 vintage will be spoken in. It is, and I will go out on a limb because the depth to what I believe in this vintage knows no bounds, the best young vintage I've ever tasted in any wine region. Period. End of story. Everyone I talked to leading up to my trip this past March was going gaga over the 2015 Northern Rhones. I never had so much hype from so many disparate parts of the industry (critics, growers, retailers, impassioned observers) all agree and gush over this vintage. It is unprecedented since I've been in the wine business. It really is like the '27 Yankees in that each time I tasted with each grower it was a literal "murderer's row" of insane wines. First the IGP, then the St. Joseph, then the St. Joseph SS, and you've hit Ruthian levels. At every estate.
So I went and I tasted this past late Februrary/early March and after my first 2015, I was convinced. And each one after I became more and more convinced until it was to the level of worship. I was worshipping this vintage as it has turned the meaning of tasty up to 11. It is not even funny. Every wine, from the most humble IGP the most complex deep and age worthy Hermitage it is a thrill a sip. These wines, and I mean all, have a deep dark color, depth like I have never tasted, huge tannic structure that is ripe and suggest longer than normal aging curves for these wines. I was in love. And what is truly amazing is that I was tasting these wines early. Super early. I mean it makes no sense that they should taste this good, this early. But they did. You could bottle them all and they would be epic legendary wines today, but the great majority have long elevage times ahead of them. My mission was to find a wine from this remarkable vintage that I could sell before we picked up next time in France and be ready for the Fall ship. I did and the wine is insane. And it is so good I am offering the rare case price as well.
Today, the first wine I will offer the from the heralded great 2015 Northern Rhone vintage is from Domaine des Pierres Seches and it is the 2015 IGP Syrah which is 100% raised and aged in stainless steel and will be bottled in April. It is $19.99 for a 4-pack and $18.99 for a case. This wine is so good it deserves a case price. It is 100% Syrah and it is tank raised. Never sees wood which is why it is usually the first Rhone wine I offer of the new vintage and what is so terrific about it besides being outrageously delicious is that it is a gauge of the vintage. The wine tastes exactly like the vintage. Deep, rich, dense, layered like you would not believe with intense deep granite minerality. There is remarkable freshness considering how much depth these wines have. And I mean huge amounts of depth. Richness without heaviness and wonderful finesse. It has it all and lots of it. This, in normal vintages, punches above its weight but in a vintage like 2015, this wine becomes a really remarkable value as it almost punches twice/three times its weight. Don't spill any on the rug type of wine. I will be stocking up on these. You should as well. Sylvain's parcels are all high up in craggy, steep parcels and his terroir is remarkable. His vineyards are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Majestic, winding and mysterious. We spent the whole morning tasting, exploring his vineyards and eating a magnificent improvised French lunch of pate, cheese and bread over one of Sylvain's old barrels. We drank the 2015 IGP and it was beautiful with the food. The fact I drank a barrel sample with my lunch attests to how great these wines are. I've loved this wine in so many other vintages (this is the fourth I've worked with) and am so happy that a wine I believed in and have sold every vintage has a following and the price has not changed. If this was Bordeaux it would be $35 for the 2015! This is limited as 2015 is a hit in France and selling out already!
2015 Domaine des Pierres Seches (Sylvain Gauthier) IGP Syrah - $21.99
($79.96 4-pack, $227.88 case price)
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