From: Rhône, France
Blend: 90% Marsanne, 10% Roussanne
Taste & Critical Acclaim: "Quince and pear. Rich and ripe but not overly so, it's silky on the palate, fairly high in alcohol, enjoyably full and opulent, with a fresh core. Includes a new parcel this year of 70-year-old Marsanne, so is now around 90% Marsanne, 10% Roussanne. The rest is a mix of 60-year-old and seven-year-old vines. Vinified in oak." –Decanter, 93 points (MW) (9/2023)
"Bottled just three weeks before my visit, the 2022 Saint-Péray is nevertheless showing well, with beautiful white flowers, stone fruits, and a kiss of almond and toasted notes in its medium-bodied, elegant, beautifully textured profile. This is a classy, layered, impressive white that will shine on the dinner table over the coming 4-6 years (and probably longer). I was thrilled to be able to retaste the 2020s during my visit with Pierre-Marie Clape, and it’s safe to say I underrated these last year. They’ve have morphed into heavenly wines that are unquestionably in the same league as the estate 2010s, 2018s, and 2019s. The 2021s here have pure, classic, old school-like profiles with more moderate concentration and depth, but good balance as well as length. Harkening back to wines from the 1980s, they’re already approachable yet should have 10-15 years of interesting drinking." –Jeb Dunnuck, 92 points (3/2024)
"Aged for 11 months in a combination of concrete, old oak foudres and 500-liter terracotta jars, the 2022 Saint-Péray blends 80% Marsanne with 20% Roussanne. Wafts of lemon peel, yellow apple, white peach and a tropical melon splash introduce it. Offering a medium body and refreshing acidity, it leaves a slightly nutty aftertaste on the sapid finale." –Vinous, 91 points (NG) (10/2023)
Pairing: I think of this particular wine from Saint-Peray as a “main course white wine.” As such, I’d recommend pairing this with the dish that’ll center your evening, focusing on simple, classic recipes made with fresh produce. Take a trip to your local fishmonger or butcher for this meal; it’ll be worth it. Some of my favorite go-to’s include serving this with pan-fried trout and almonds (truite aux amandes), chicken with mixed mushrooms and cream (check it out below), and the classic French poulet roti with a baguette that’ll soak up the sauce made from the drippings and white wine. Some other favorites include serving this with mild curries and with poultry or veal with apricot or fig or mushroom sauce.
Chicken With Mixed Mushrooms and Cream
By Amanda Hesser
About. Many thanks to our friends at Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants for the following.
In the world of wine, there are many good winegrowers. However, there are only a very select few who are truly great, and Auguste Clape will go down in history as one of the greats. A proud and uncompromising pioneer of fine winemaking in the northern Rhône, his Syrahs from the cru of Cornas have earned their place among the most celebrated wines of France.
The Clapes have been vignerons for many generations, but the infamous grower strikes of 1906 and 1907 forced Auguste’s grandfather out of the Languedoc and into the northern Rhône to start anew from practically nothing. The Clapes rebuilt their fortunes, terrace by terrace, along the steep, western slopes of the Rhône River. For many years, the majority of growers in Cornas sold their fruit to négociants. Auguste was the first to bottle his own wine, which eventually paved the way for such contemporary superstars as Thierry Allemand.
Without pretense or fanfare, Auguste, the former mayor of Cornas, was a stately picture of grace and magnanimity—a no-nonsense wise man who never rested on his laurels and sought to better himself and his wines each year until his passing in 2018 at the age of 93. Today, his son, Pierre-Marie, and grandson, Olivier, carry on his legacy with honor and integrity.
Though the Clapes farm only eight hectares, the challenge presented by the rough, tightly stacked terrace vineyards of Cornas is largely enough to handle by anybody’s standards. The dicey precipices make using any machinery in the vineyards impossible. All work must be done by hand. There are no official rules to their viticultural methodology—they work the old-fashioned way, by instinct, feeling, and common sense.