Elegant Grenache from La Cour des Grâces

I discovered an amazing new Côtes du Rhône from two guys in Saint Rémy de Provence, whom I met via Audrey Arlon at Domaine des Trois Filles in Bandol. Thierry Pommet was a sommelier at several Michelin-starred restaurants in the South of France and represents Audrey’s Bandol across France, and his partner Daniel Orsolini makes wine for the Rothschild family and various private label projects for clients across the country.

Their La Cour des Grâces project is sourced from organic growers in the Southern Rhône, and vinified by Claude Serra at Bastide Sainte Dominique. From the various small lots we tasted together, my favorite was from a lieu-dit in the Côtes du Rhône Villages town of Fournès. Named “Le Pré des Suves,” it is covered with large galets stones and bright orange iron-rich clay (see below) and planted to old bush vines of Grenache and Mourvèdre that produce a radiantly juicy red that punches high above its everyday price tag.

Our bottling for France+Western was vinified in concrete tanks, bottled without fining or filtration, and has all of the energy and garrigue-ey punch that I adore in old-style Southern Rhônes. Their 2021 vintage yielded just 350 cases.

La Cour des Grâces 2021 Côtes du Rhône