Guillaume Gonnet, Côtes du Rhône Rouge, Le Revêur, Southern Rhône, France, 2022

Producer Profile

The energetic and charismatic Guillaume Gonnet is not your average Rhône winemaker. Extremely open in his attitude, his curious, boundary challenging approach extends beyond wine.

He travelled to the far ends of the earth, revelling in the opportunity to surf some of the best waves in the world while learning his craft in various Australian and New Zealand regions. Returning to the Rhône, now with his Australian wife Kelly, Guillaume has shown similar energy for his family estate and for his own nascent project. This land locked surfer may be miles from the ocean but is happily riding the wave of new found enthusiasm for Grenache based wines. Pursuing biodynamics wherever possible, allowing his fruit to express itself freely through hands-off winemaking and displaying his fascination for the varying soils of the Rhône through his diverse range of wines, he's just the sort of restless creative that we love to work with.

Viticulture

Situated in Domazan, next to the Signargues plateau, the vineyard comprises light clay and sandy soil and the 40 to 45 year old vines are situated on north facing terraces.

Winemaking

Hand picked, the bunches are 100% destemmed, then fermented with natural yeasts and macerated for 15 to 20 dayes and aged in concrete tank.

Oak Ageing

No oak ageing

Tasting Note

The wine is fleshy, ripe and finishes with impressive forest floor sweetness, rounded out by peppery tannins. Think crème de cassis, cherries, and a lovely note of liquorice on the palate, mixed with pepper and Asian spices.

Food Matching

Charcuterie and cheese, a gourmet pizza or something a little different like Peking duck pancakes.

Awards

Wine Advocate 88-90 Points
Gonnet's tank-aged 2022 Cotes du Rhone Le Reveur is an 80-20 blend of Grenache and Syrah, sourced from his own holdings. There's a hint of peppery spice accenting black cherries and blackberries, plus dried herbs and dusty earth on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is silky textured and long on the finish. 88-90 Points, JC, 2024.