SOLD OUT! The 2016 Domaine Gallety Cotes du Vivarais Rouge is a must-have for any lover of Rhone wines. A blend of equal parts Grenache and Syrah, it combines the luscious notes found in many Southern Rhones with spicy and savory notes found in most Northern Rhones.
Although it’s technically part of the Southern Rhone, the Cotes du Vivarais is just as close to Cornas as it is to Avignon. And that’s why I like to refer to this wine as “Chateauneuf meets Cornas.” It is a truly marvelous red wine from the highly touted 2016 vintage, and it’s brought to us by importer extraordinaire Kermit Lynch. Thanks Kermit!
2016 Domaine Gallety Cotes du Vivarais Rouge
“Combines the opulent decadence of Grenache with the spicy savoriness of Syrah. YUM!” – Josh Spurling - 95 points
SOLD OUT
Domaine Gallety perfectly embodies the Table Wine philosophy. Small grower, family owned and operated, organic farming, and clean, minimal interventionist winemaking. Oh yeah, most importantly, DELICIOUS! Founded in 1974, this third generation estate is maximizing the potential of the lesser-known Cotes du Vivarais, which was only awarded AOC status in 1999.
Today, the region is gaining a lot of fans and the reason is the exceptional and unique terroir. The soil is pure white limestone, a stark contrast to the granite farther north and the alluvial soil farther south. And when you combine that with the cooler temperatures the area experiences, the resulting wines are more elegant and fresher, but there’s still plenty of “meat on the bone” here.
Father and son Alain and David-Alexandre Gallety control all aspects of wine growing and making, from vineyard to bottle. And just like food from a farm-to-table restaurant tastes better than food from a chain, that same premise applies to wine. The duo enjoyed a wonderful growing season in 2016 marked by dry and warm days and cool nights. Fermentation was carried out in stainless steel and the wine was then moved to neutral oak barrels for 15 months of aging. It was then bottled with minimal fining, filtration, or sulfur additions.
The resulting wine will blow you away. Full-bodied yet fine-grained, it offers up all the depth and power of a Chateauneuf or Gigondas combined with the peppery spice and minerality of a Cornas or St. Joseph. There’s ripe blackberry and blueberry fruit followed by notes of black olive, graphite, smoky herb, and tobacco notes. And although the tannins are ripe and relatively round, I suspect this will provide pleasurable drinking for at least 10 years.
I could see this being delicious with a lot of classic French bistro fare. Steak au poivre, duck breast, pate, etc. Totally your call on the food pairing, but it’s also delicious with nothing more than a glass and a fellow wine lover.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville