Masterful Organic and Biodynamic Wines from the Base of Mont Ventoux
With a virtually infinite capacity to collect, digest, generate, and disseminate data, Artificial Intelligence has encroached upon nearly every aspect of our technology-driven, post-millennial world. But there has always existed another deeper, a priori intelligence, primal in nature that lies buried in the roots and shoots and vines of everything we grow, reap, or harvest from the bones of the earth. Those growers who eschew pesticides and fertilizers in favor of organic and biodynamic farming are working in harmony with this native intelligence, and—as the ineluctable effects of a warming climate are felt throughout the planet—dutifully seeking out cooler regions to plant their vines.
One such winemaker is Sebastien Vincenti of Domaine Fondrèche, and one such site is Ventoux, a sprawling Rhône appellation of over 14,000 acres that lies about six miles east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. For many years, Ventoux was associated with thin, lackluster table wines. Yet in recent decades the potential for excellence has been tapped by skilled winemakers, and you now can find some exceptionally good wines from Ventoux on our shelves. The massive slopes of Mont Ventoux, famous for chewing up riders during the Tour de France, dominates the region of vines to the southwest, creating a natural amphitheater that allows for cooler nights and a longer growing season. And no one understands this climate differential more than Sebastien Vincenti, the inspired owner of Domaine de Fondrèche, whose balanced, flavorful range of appreciably affordable wines are stunning stars in our Southern Rhône portfolio.
The 2022 Domaine de Fondrèche Ventoux Blanc $16.99 sourced from parcels planted in lighter, sandier soils and vinified entirely without sulfites, balances its aromatic yellow pear, apricot, and melon flavors with a touch of salinity that gives the wine a vibrant freshness. A blend of one-third each Grenache Blanc, Clairette, and Roussanne, with 10% Rolle (Vermentino) to enhance the acidity.
Conspicuous for its tendency to vanish from our shelves during the dog days of summer, the 2022 Domaine de Fondrèche Ventoux Rosé $16.99 WE92, made from a blend of 50% Cinsault, 30% Syrah, and 20% Grenache, is a pristine, pale evocation of fleshy orchard fruits, macerated and aged on the lees for a bit more weight and depth of flavor, without losing any of its impeccable spark and charm. Want some advice? Buy a case, it’s that delicious.
The domaine has truly captured the wonderful exuberance and spirit of the Ventoux terroir in its 2020 Domaine de Fondrèche Ventoux Rouge $16.99 JD92, the estate’s benchmark red, with fruit grown on the complex limestone alluvial soils. It is fermented and aged in foudres and containers—including an ovoid concrete egg that resembles a Wallace and Grommet spaceship. An array of ripe red and black fruits with a hint of garrigue and minerality are underlined by acidity to balance the attractive forward elements in this fruitful wine. Crafted from 45-year-old Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre vines.
2020 Domaine de Fondrèche "Persia" Ventoux Rouge (Previously $25) $17.99 JD93 JS93. Cooler nocturnal temperatures are ideal for cultivating Syrah, allowing for the soulful presence of savory, more exotic flavors in the wine. Add the reductive, feral nature of old-vine Mourvèdre to the mix and you have something special, full of ripe black cherry, cocoa, thyme, and wild strawberry notes. Aged for 12 months in new oak barrels.
Highlighting the low to zero interventionist philosophy of Domaine de Fondrèche, the 2021 Domaine de Fondrèche "Natural" Ventoux Rouge (No Sulfites Added) (Previously $17) $10.99 will please those who seek crystalline purity of fruit and unabashed freshness in a balanced blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault.
Looking forward and beyond, Sebastien Vincenti produces a few limited wines that pay tribute to the natural exposure and ancient alluvial soils of the plateau. The 2020 Domaine de Fondrèche "Ile Etait une Fois" Ventoux Rouge $39.99 JD96, which in poetic fashion means “Once Upon a Time,” elaborates upon the theme of opulence and effusive power while still achieving a sense of balance and freshness so emblematic of this great estate. Structured and beautifully layered fruit flavors, most notably from venerable Grenache vines dating from 1936, lend this wine a minerality and sinewy elegance that unravels and evolves in the glass.
Approaching the apogee of bottlings from this Ventoux property, the 2020 Domaine de Fondrèche "Divergente" Ventoux Rouge (Previously $45) $32.99 JD96, 100% Syrah planted in 1955 reveals both amplitude and breadth in its pliant, seductively polished black fruits and mesmerizing aromas of smoked meat, wildflowers, thyme and black olive, embellished by silky tannins and a lingering spicy finish.
- John Majeski, Rhône Specialist