2018 Domaine Monier Perréol Saint-Joseph "Châtelet", Rhone Valley, FranceJean Pierre Monier is as happy and as grateful a vigneron as one finds. His small production wines certainly have not made him wealthy (far from it), but his effortless calm, natural sensitivity, and quiet conviction give him an enviable air of simplicity. He is the third generation of his family to be farming in Brunieux, a lieu dit in the hills above the village of St Dsirat in the Northern Rhne appellation of Saint Joseph. Like his forefathers,

It was a purely non-professional round up and it drew a crowd of 1

Its production remains unchanged meaning that it is each year's weather factors that mark the differences between the different harvests

where the river laps against and nourishes a unique and exceptional

Erste Lagen vineyards

Pierre's purist philosophy has evolved even further at Meurgey-Croses with the sovereign belief that the Maconnais and its individually unique regions will be home to an entirely new and soulful renaissance of White Burgundy production

with its celebrated red wines and their matchless aromas

there are more and more of farmers following the lead of Steve Matthiasson and following the trail that he is blazing through California

the current proprietaire

and the philosophy is that a lot of work done in the vines promotes healthy grapes for excellent wine

and they bought it

He returned to the Côtes du Marmandais with the gift of 5 hectares of vines passed on to him by his father

Vins Contés reds are all made similarly: semi-carbonic maceration with whole clusters layered in closed tanks with CO2