Monier-Perréol Grenache Vin de France 2024

Profile & Story

Guillaume Monier is the fourth generation of his family to farm at Brunieux, a lieu-dit in the hills above the village of Saint-Desirat in the north of Saint-Joseph, where the domaine works about five hectares of Syrah, Marsanne and Roussanne on gentle, higher-altitude slopes. His father Jean-Pierre — greatly influenced by the German biodynamic teacher Maria Thun — stopped selling the fruit to the local co-op in 2001 and began bottling under the family label; the vineyards have been certified biodynamic since 2006, and in 2008 he started working with the like-minded vigneron Philippe Perreol, combining resources for some of the wines. Winemaking is deliberately hands-off: fermentation in concrete or stainless steel using natural yeasts, and ageing in neutral oak. This Grenache is bottled outside the appellation as Vin de France, grown on granitic soil and made in concrete vats, at 13.5% alcohol. (Source: Indigo Wine, importer.)