Château Redortier Beaumes-de-Venise 2013

Reviews

APS

"When someone asks you, ‘What’s your favorite wine?’ it’s hard not to pause and roll your eyes. But for me, I’d certainly pick Redortier for the little reasons, the perfect balance of fruity and non-fruity aromas with an irresistible savory edge that always attracts me to the wines of the Rhône. Though Etienne passed in 2017, his twin daughters, Isabelle and Sabine, have been the unwavering soul of Redortier since its birth. For the few who know this family, they are exceptionally private and beyond humble. Did you know their family owned the grand medieval castle, Menthon-Saint-Bernard, in the skies of the Haute-Savoie? No, of course you didn’t because they are not about grandeur or photogenic prestige. They are about wine and family. For the Redortier junkies, there are the old favorites, the classic Beaumes-de-Venise Rouge and Gigondas, as well as some ‘new’ tricks: magnums, and the rare Monsieur Le Comte single vineyard. As the holidays approach, take a moment. Whether it is in your stuffed cellar, your neighborhood shop, or in the thick turn of your restaurant, join us this season and raise a glass of Redortier. After the catastrophic frost of 1956 which wiped-out lower lying vineyards and olive trees, the agricultural engineer, Etienne de Menthon, came to the town of Suzette seeking-out an unusual terroir. 1,500 feet above sea level in the storybook mountains ‘Dentelles de Montmirail,’ this tucked-away village was considered the finest stronghold in the Middle Ages due to its commanding view and isolation. The soils are a colorful DNA: white and yellowish limestone, dark grey schist, silvery quartz and brick-red sandstone. We can blame the Greek colonists for the region’s sad obsession with Muscat (they were the first to plant this varietal in 600 BC), but the quiet treasure of the region is old-vine Grenache and Syrah. Etienne planted his first vineyard in the late 1950s, sold his fruit to the Beaumes-de-Venise cooperative, and finally established his own cellar in 1981. For over 30 years, Etienne’s twin daughters, Sabine and Isabelle, have lived and breathed Castle Redortier. They walk their vineyards almost every day, a collection of ten lieux-dits: Le Cholet, Les Clapas, Les Trois Yeux, La Martinelle, Le Coulet, Les Hauts, Les Joncas, Les Aubuns, La Patrone, and Chateauneuf. Their practices have been constant over trendy: organically farmed Grenache, Syrah, Counoise, and a few acres of indigenous white varietals, no Mourvèdre and no Muscat. Guided by the freshness of altitude, they prefer to make wine without stems, followed by fermentation in cement vats with native yeasts, then extended aging in cement and old foudres. Like Leonardo and Simone of Il Macchione, Sabine and Isabelle are patient vigneronnes. Their ‘current releases’ hardly seem current as they rest their wine in bottle in the cellar until they feel it is ready. Unbiased by critic or market hype, they are independent thinkers making independent wines. It’s Rhône underbelly at its finest."