C&J Grieco Vignerons Cinsault Debut d'Un Histoire 2016

The 2016 Debut d’une Histoire from Christelle and Jerome Grieco is essentially a Cotes-du-Rhone Villages bottle, but as it is comprised soleley of cinsault, it is excluded from the appellation and has to be sold as a Vins de France. The 2016 version was fermented with whole clusters in cement tanks and raised in the same. It offers up a superb nose of dark berries, hung game, wood smoke, Christmas spices, a fine base of stony soil tones and a nice touch of French roast.

On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, structured and impressively solid at the core, with great precision, ripe, chewy tannins and outstanding length and grip on the complex and very serious finish. Like all of the Grieco’s wines, this needs extended aeration to blossom right now, but will age beautifully. This is a stunning value, as it is probably better than ninety percent of the Chateauneufs out there these days