33% Grenache, 33% Clairette, 33% Cinsault

Everyone now, of course, knows Gignondas producer Les Pallieres and associates it with its two high profile owners- the irrepressible Berkeley wine importer Kermit Lynch and brothers Daniel and Frederic Brunier, owners of the iconic Vieux Telegraph property in Chateauneuf du Pape.  The 2024 vintage marks the twenty-fourth vintage of this partnership.  The history of this place, though, goes back much, much further than that.  The property was, in fact, owned by the same family for over 400 years.  By the mid-twentieth century, though, the property had fallen on hard times, and the current generation of the Roux clan decided to relieve themselves of the burden of farming and winemaking altogether in 1998.  A bidding war ensued, and the long-interested Lynch, alone, didn’t stand much chance of successfully negotiating the ins and outs of a purchase of this magnitude with so many locals in on the sale, but when the Bruniers, reportedly after a long dinner downstairs at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, threw their weight behind the idea of a joint Lynch-Brunier project, it quickly became a reality.  In addition to producing a couple of pretty scintillating reds, they also make what is, to our mind, one of the coolest Roses we get each vintage. Made from equal parts Grenache, Clairette and Cinsault, it’s sourced from younger vines to insure there’s a precocious amount of fresh fruit in the wine and that there’s plenty of mouthwatering acidity but it’s fermented and aged in demi-muid barrels to give it a little more texture on the palate.  Fresh red berries, a hint of peach, a dash of plum jam and a squeeze of blood orange and you have an idea of what a delightful mouthful of Rose this is!  Summer is here and this is your Rose dollar being put to very good use!  *** Arugulas and **+ Hammocks on PRIMA’s scientific Rose scale.