Herve Souhaut: A Rockstar in the Northern Rhone

I discovered these a few years back, not knowing there was natural wine in the Rhone that could compete in substance and depth with bigger names. This is one of them. More importantly, this is a producer I have noticed attracts lots of fan who aren't natural wine phenoms. I would even say that I have sold this to winecollectors who don't like natural wine. There is something so haunting and moving in these wines that everyone has something they love about them. How could you not. 

In short, these are amazing natural wines that are not for those just introducing themselves to the Northern Rhone. You know how people talk about those barnyard flavors in Northern Rhone Syrahs and blends? They are as alive as life can get in a wine: They are real and they are spectacular.

From 30 year old vines. Grapes are hand-harvested and undergo long maceration without de-stemming. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks and aged on fine lees in second-hand oak casks for eight months then bottled without filtration. Filled with fresh and crushed violets that really sting and dance. Bacon and duck fat with deep black berries and plums immersed in a cool, watered down strawberry texture.

 

Nearly purple in the glass with a garnet rim. The nose is an enticing array of strawberry, black cherry, plum, fig paste, smoky herbs and pounded stones. Buoyant black fruit dominates the palate and is followed by pretty red berry tones, and minerality. The granite soil evokes something very familiar and Beaujolais-like, while cloaked under the influence of the Northern Rhone, suggesting the more dark and bacon-y tendencies of Syrah from this area.