Tave Côtes-du-Rhône--Your Go-to Red

The Alps loomed in the distance, easily visible through the crystal clear sky. The air was chilly, but thankfully the notorious Mistral wind of the Rhône was absent, and the day was mild and accommodating for an outing. Audrey Latard of Domaine du Tave greeting me, her shy 6-year-old daughter in tow.

“A perfect day to see the vineyards,” she said. “Shall we go?”

Audrey’s vineyards are up the road from her winery, just outside of the village of Vinsobre, in the foothills of the Alps. She works a few parcels, totaling less than 6 hectares of vines; for the Côtes-du-Rhône, that is a grain of sand in an ocean of vines. The Rhône is France's second largest wine-growing region, after Bordeaux, with over 75,000 hectares planted and is dominated by huge brands and large village co-operative cellars.

Case in point, our first stop was to a plot she took over from her father, on a gentle slope, adjacent to the massive warehouse tank-farm that is the Vinsobre Caves Cooperative. She explained to me, that before she took over, her father simply trucked over his grapes every year, where they were blended away, with minimal attention, into a uniform, anonymous Côte-du-Rhône.

It was Audrey, like many in her generation, who saw the potential of the vineyards and sought to make something unique. A little investment, a lot of hard work, a vision, and plenty of patience. When she took over from her father in 2008, she knew she wanted to highlight the character of the wines, not bury it in some unidentifiable cuvée.

And boy, she really has the raw materials to make something great.

We headed up to the crest of the hill above the village, and it became clear what was so unique about her wines. It resembles something closer to Châteauneuf-du-Pape than the typical valley-floor vineyard. Here, the ground was littered with large galets roulé, and the hillside was exposed to the cool wind coming down from the Alps, a hyper-local wind called Le Pontias. Blowing throughout the growing season, the Pontias keeps the vines dry and disease-free, while preserving acidity in the grapes and freshness in the wine.

“What does your father think of you starting your own winery and going it alone?”

“You can ask him yourself,” and she pointed up ahead to a sturdy pair of figures, her parents, pruning vines, a lifetime of manual labor obvious in their smooth motions and strong hands.

Beyond the obvious pride in his daughter, M. Latard, marveled at how wines, from the land he was standing on, a village of barely 1000 people, where he grew up, could make it around the world, to be enjoyed, and recognized as unique.

• Domaine du Tave ‘Cuvée Sensation” 2023 •

Côtes-du-Rhône has always been a go-to category for me - the combination of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre create an enticing alchemy of spice, fruit and structure that plays nicely with so many foods. Audrey’s flagship ‘Cuvée Sensation’ highlights the care she takes with her vineyards and the unique microclimate of Vinsobres.

• 30% Syrah, 50% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre

• From one of the highest altitude appellations in the Côtes-du-Rhône

• All native yeast fermentation

• Full of red and black fruit, a whiff of coffee, garrigue, and a hit of black pepper

• No new oak to cover up the fruit

• Rich and savory texture, with a pleasant warm finish

Look, we straight-up love this wine, and we know you do too. It's a reliable pleasure and tremendous value, which is why it has become our best-selling red from France. We made sure to load up the container with this one - 600 bottles are coming our way. So get greedy, and grab a case, or two. You won't regret having plenty of this around for summer barbeques, pizza nights, or that impromptu gathering of friends.

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That's not all...Audrey also makes a delightful white...

• Domaine du Tave ‘Blanc du Tave” 2023 •

A real pleasure in its own right, the Blanc du Tave is made from "Muscat a petit grain", a unique white specific to the Vinsobre area. This is an ultra-refreshing, fragrant, and bone-dry white that showcases the telltale muscat floral nose, with a juicy mandarine orange mid-palate and fresh, thirst-quenching finish.