2014 Château de Montfaucon Clairette "Vin de Mme la Comtesse" Côtes du Rhône Vieilles Vignes Blanc

Staff Reviews

KM

Keith Mabry

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer

From some of the oldest Clairette vines in the region comes this stellar bottling from our friends at Montfaucon. This ancient vineyard is all head-pruned and is a contour vineyard, meaning it ebbs and flows along the contours of the hillside. The wine is lovely, with rich, round stone fruit flavors, creaminess and elegance. This is the caliber of top-tier Chateauneuf Blanc.

JM

John Majeski

John Majeski

This is the kind of resonant, luminous white wine I might have imagined Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sipping while waiting for their cue, as it breathes sophistication and poise with every pristine, fragrant drop. Opening with a flourish of fresh orchard fruits descending on the palate with lemon cream, toasted spice, a hint of crisp celery and waft of fennel, this is, like those timeless dance routines, a charming complexity, a wine to complement everything from the most elegant rind cheeses to shellfish to pasta with truffle oil.

JD

John Downing

John Downing

This regal white offers an unexpected level of refinement and complexity that we expect from pricier wines of the region. It boasts a wonderful combination of citrus and stone fruit with an overall intensity that lends itself to a variety of foods. Open this with fish, white meats, egg and vegetable dishes.

Notes

This exquisite vineyard was planted in the 1870s (that's not a typo). These old gnarly vines with their highly restricted yields produce some of the richest most concentrated Clairette in the entire Rhone Valley. Planted on a mix of sand, clay and pudding stones, this wine is the essence of sleek minerality. A touch of barrel fermentation adds volume and structure. The flavors resonate with ripe stone fruit flavors and white flowers, a touch of anise rounds out the finish. This reminds us of Chateau de Beaucastel's Chateauneuf Vieilles Vignes Blanc which sells for well over $100 a bottle. This is just as limited and just as cool for only $30. An 88-acre estate, Château de Montfaucon sits just across the Rhône River from the esteemed vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is owned and operated by Rodolphe de Pins, a UC Davis graduate and former member of the winemaking staff at Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe. Over the years, Château de Montfaucon has developed a HUGE following amongst both our staff and customers.