Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet (Herve Souhaut) La Souteronne 2024

Hervé Souhaut founded Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet in 1993, gradually building it up parcel by parcel in the hills above Arlebosc, in the Ardèche — a stone's throw across the Rhône from the storied slopes of Hermitage and Saint-Joseph. Today he farms just five hectares of genuinely old vines, 50 to 100 years of age, planted on granite soil with naturally high acidity; the cellar itself sits beneath "Les Romaneaux," a fortified 16th-century farmhouse, right in the middle of the vines that produce his cuvées. La Souteronne is 100% Gamay, drawn from eight separate parcels across the communes of Arlebosc, Empurany, and Colombier-le-Vieux, farmed organically with no chemical treatments. Souhaut works entirely with whole bunches and semi-carbonic maceration, a deliberate philosophy aimed at extracting a delicate balance of tannin — subtlety and finesse over the heavy extraction that makes so many young Northern Rhône reds impossible to drink before a decade in the cellar. The wine is bottled unfiltered with minimal sulphur throughout.

The result is often compared favourably to the very best of Beaujolais: a bright, open garnet colour gives way to crunchy red fruit — cherry and cranberry — layered with earthy spice and a distinctive granite-driven minerality that nods toward the surrounding Rhône terroir even in a wine made from Gamay. The palate is fine-tannined, light, and genuinely elegant, with good acidity and real persistence, drinking beautifully with a little air to let the fruit and whole-bunch stem character fully open up. Pour it with roast chicken, charcuterie, or a simple grilled dish; this is one of the Northern Rhône's most quietly compelling natural wines, made by a vigneron widely considered one of the finest in all of the Ardèche.