Guillaume Gonnet - Cairanne le Brave 2022
Price: $23.99
Sale Price: $18.99
6+ Price: $16.99 / btl
| Producer | Guillaume Gonnet |
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| Country | France |
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| Region | Rhone Valley |
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| Varietal | Grenache |
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| Vintage | 2022 |
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| Sku | 04135 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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According to local archives, the Gonnet family has been settled in Bédarrides since 1600. Beda – where? It’s the town about 1 mile east of Chateauneuf du Pape. Ok. Got it.
Well, after centuries of growing grapes, the family, namely Etienne Gonnet, created a winery in 1950. Font de Michelle. Sounds familiar? It’s only one of the icons of the region!
Okay… so where am I going? Well, Guillaume Gonnet, grandson of Etienne, manages the estate today. And he’s buds with someone we’ve known for a while, Craig Baker. Craig’s been through the trenches and then some! Having worked for some of the top French importers in the country, Craig has hooked up with MISA Imports to market his own selections. Dots… connecting… aha! Craig convinced Guillaume to create a line of wines just for him… but all made from the same estate fruit as his Font de Michelle wines!
Talk about “knowing a guy!”
We’ve got a slew of these gems coming, but let’s start with this Cairanne. So… what’s Cairanne? Cairanne is a village in the heart of the Southern Rhone, within the larger Cotes du Rhone region. But it’s “better” than just a simple Cotes du Rhone. In 1967, it was granted status as a Cotes du Rhone Villages – a more narrowly defined appellation that highlighted a specific village and its wines, as they had superior quality and unique characteristics. You’ve likely heard of some others – Gigondas, Rasteau, Bacqueyras.
James Molesworth of Wine Spectator describes the region: ““With its sun-drenched summers and the fierce northerly wind known as the mistral that helps to ward off disease, the Southern Rhône is one of the most consistent wine regions in the world quality-wise. While there are over a dozen villages that can append their name to the Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellation, Cairanne is arguably the best, with red and black fruit flavors typically offset by a racy graphite edge.”
Ok… so… what about THIS wine?
90% Grenache, 10% Syrah. No oak at all. Fragrant aromas of raspberries and cherries mixed with wild herbs give way to an elegant and refined wine. Not that it is lacking in intensity – oh no! This baby offers a powerful array of ripe, briary fruit combined with garrigue – but the wine is impeccably balanced and caresses your palate on the long finish. In essence – a perfect Rhone red for matching with just about any dish you can throw at it!
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