Domaine La Réméjeanne, Un Air - 2023
Fast Facts:
Winemaker(s): Olivier Klein
Region: Sabran → Côtes du Rhône → Southern Rhône → France
Varietal(s): Grenache, Syrah
Terroir: Sandy limestone soils, high elevation, mistral winds, scrublands
Serving Temp: 55-60°F
The Klein family took the long way to the southern Rhône. Originally from Alsace, they spent decades farming in Tunisia and Morocco before François Klein bought five hectares of vines in Sabran in 1960. He named the estate after a small stream that crosses the property. His son Rémy took over in 1988, planted figs and olives alongside the vines, and converted everything to organic. Olivier Klein and his partner Juliette run it now, the third generation, farming 25 hectares in the wooded hills outside Bagnols-sur-Cèze.
The vines sit between 200 and 300 meters on terraces of sand and broken limestone, mostly facing east and southeast. That's higher and cooler than most of the Côtes du Rhône floor, and it dramatically shows! The wines hold acid that lower-elevation sites quickly lose to the heat. The dry northerly mistral wind funnels down the Rhône valley and keeps things crisp. The garrigue you smell in the glass, all that wild thyme and juniper and pine, that comes straight from the woods that surround the vineyards. Olivier picks earlier than many of his neighbors to keep the lift as the hero, and then ages everything in concrete so the fruit stays fresh.
This bottle of Un Air is 70% Grenache, 30% Syrah, hand-picked from those high-country plots. The Grenache brings fragrant strawberry and violet where the Syrah adds serious backbone and a peppery edge. A five-day cold soak partially whole-cluster (stems and all!) gives it some extra buoyant structure before a short week of maceration on the skins. Six months in concrete and into bottle within the year keeps this one young and fresh while still having plenty of depth. Olivier calls it a vin de soif, a thirst-wine, an easy drinker that goes with anytime and anywhere.
Why'd we pick it?
This is some shifting gears vino. The heavy winter bottles get moved to the back of the shelf and we reach for lighter, fresher juice that pairs perfectly with life and food that encourages hanging out and eating outdoors. Un Air, I think, is a perfect choice. And somehow is still a Côtes du Rhône that feels like the season we're in. Rejoice!
Field Notes
- Tastes like: Bright cherry and tangy strawberry. A bit of thyme and pepper keep it balanced along with a nice acidic backbone. It's a crunchy one!
- Serve it cool. Twenty minutes in the fridge if it's been sitting out, and pour it preferably on a patio or in a yard somewhere.
- Food Pairings: Lamb merguez off the grill with charred spring onions and flatbread. Buttered radishes on torn baguette with flaky salt: peak little-French-bistro energy.
