Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/8/2007 (link)

  (SOUHAUT St. Epine) 2006 Northern Rhone Dear Friends, This is one of my biggest “sigh of relief” offers from my trip to Europe as the wine was going to evaporate if I couldn’t make it happen - I just got the call and it’s done. There is a lot of interest in 2006 Northern Rhones and you can’t get hotter than Herve Souhaut, that is, you can’t get any hotter than Herve Souhaut in France...the US is basically oblivious to this new wunderkind of the Northern Rhone but ask any of the top retailers in France and Souhaut would make the top five list for many of them (and I mean top five in all of France). To be brief, if you are looking for one of the defining producers of the new artisanal movement in France and one that has inspired and created a legion of followers like the Pied Piper (inspiring everyone from Guigal to Chapoutier), Herve Souhaut is one of only a handful of the new school of take no prisoners non-interventionist producers to cross over to the big time. We profiled Souhaut last year and the 2005 wines made a huge impact on many of you as they captured a moment in time and a place that can be imagined simply from pulling the cork - a lost, thought-provoking art form that needs re-introduction to the masses. Souhaut works in St. Joseph because he can’t afford acreage in Cote Rotie or Hermitage but that’s fine by me. It keeps his best wines within reason (cost-wise) and they can be just as age-worthy as the finest artisanal Cote Rotie. The Sainte Epine has been quite grand in the past but this is 2006 and the vintage takes the raw materials to another level. The 2006 Sainte Epine is Souhaut's best wine and it is so pure, it’s almost painful. If you like your Syrah to taste like a mineral soaked, feminine bite of the earth it was grown in (with the captivating power and sensual depth that the 2006 Northern Rhone vintage has given as a gift to everyone), this wine is truly exceptional. Like a lithe dancer that turns out to be the most powerful and long-lasting at the ball, Souhaut's 2006 Sainte Epine is just that - a testament to the virtues of artisanal production and the quality of the varietal fruit he has to work with. I’m sure his followers will be dooly impressed, including the famous winemakers that buy his wines to gain a certain perspective that has been lost with their own. Exciting wine and very difficult to get. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for picture-clear clarity, rarity and expression of a great vintage ONE SHIPMENT ONLY directly from the source with perfect provenance We have an exceptional price on this item - about the same as at the cellar-door: 2006 Herve Souhaut St. Joseph “Sainte Epine” Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Rhone9010