Domaine Bernard Gripa Saint-Peray Les Figuiers 2019
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2019 Saint-Péray Les Figuiers is 60% Roussanne and 40% Marsanne aged in 228-liter oak barrel. It has a terrific bouquet of quince and white currants as well as lots of spice, honeyed toast, and crushed stone. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and nicely balanced, with a great finish, it's another rocking wine from Gripa that readers will love. It will certainly evolve for over a decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A hint of stuck match appears on the nose of the 2019 Saint Peray Les Figuiers, along with notes of pear and citrus. A barrel-fermented 60-40 blend of Roussanne and Marsanne, it's medium-bodied, streamlined and silky textured, with bright, lime-like flavors on the long finish. Still youthfully tight, this seems like it could drink well for more than the typical 2-3 years.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
A long and narrow valley producing flavorful red, white, and rosé wines, the Rhône is bisected by the river of the same name and split into two distinct sub-regions—north and south. While a handful of grape varieties span the entire length of the Rhône valley, there are significant differences between the two zones in climate and geography as well as the style and quantity of Rhône wines produced. The Northern Rhône, with its continental climate and steep hillside vineyards, is responsible for a mere 5% or less of the greater region’s total output. The Southern Rhône has a much more Mediterranean climate, the aggressive, chilly Mistral wind and plentiful fragrant wild herbs known collectively as ‘garrigue.’
In the Northern Rhône, the only permitted red variety is Syrah, which in the appellations of St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie, it produces velvety black-fruit driven, savory, peppery red wines often with telltale notes of olive, game and smoke. Full-bodied, perfumed whites are made from Viognier in Condrieu and Château-Grillet, while elsewhere only Marsanne and Roussanne are used, with the former providing body and texture and the latter lending nervy acidity. The wines of the Southern Rhône are typically blends, with the reds often based on Grenache and balanced by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and an assortment of other varieties. All three northern white varieties are used here, as well as Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourbelenc and more. The best known sub-regions of the Southern Rhône are the reliable, wallet-friendly Côtes du Rhône and the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Others include Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the rosé-only appellation Tavel.