Tardieu-Laurent, Rhône Valley New Arrivals

Michel Tardieu and his son Bastien, with the help of consultant Philippe Cambie, continue to make a rich, full-bodied, concentrated style of wine from throughout the Rhône Valley... Michel's wines all show beautiful purity of fruit and impeccably balanced profiles. As a whole, 2017 was a very good vintage in the Rhône, and you see that extraordinary quality and consistency in this lineup..

"Michel Tardieu is a seriously committed vigneron with a penchant for locating excellent parcels of vines. He works with a mix of both traditional (varying the amount of destemming) and modern techniques (aging in new and used oak barrels) that lend the wines a density and clarity to their fruit without sacrificing their terroir. During their lengthy élevage the reds are blended and then racked back into used oak, thus minimizing the overt influence of new barrels. The wines age well, with the wood treatment melding into the body of the wine to let a kaleidoscope of spice, fruit, toast and mineral notes develop together. In recent years, the lineup has really excelled & they are among the most vivid, precise and exciting wines being made in the region today."
— James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

"2017 was a hot, very dry year which has resulted in a very good to excellent vintage of powerful, structured red wines. 2017 doesn’t have the effortless balance and joie de vivre of the 2016s, but will be enjoyed by those looking for structured, tannic, ageworthy wines. Of the various Southern Rhône crus, the best wines were made in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Rasteau has outdone itself and produced some fabulous wines this year, while Lirac benefitted from its natural freshness, as did Gigondas and Vinsobres. Yields may be low in the south this year, but Rhône lovers take note – they will be lower still in 2018."
— Decanter Magazine