Red | Ready, but will improve | Le Plan des Moines | 2017 | France > Rhône Valley | Grenache 50%, Carignan 50% | Medium Bodied, Dry | 13.5% abv

Three old mates with six decades of experience between them, got together to create a fresher, more vibrant style of Rhône wines. Wine merchant Daniel Orsolini, sommelier Thierry Pommet, and winemaker Claude Serra, have crafted a series of remarkable, organic, low-intervention wines with fruit from their own vineyards across the Rhône Valleys diverse terroirs. Wines that take you down unexpected avenues and will prompt you to re-evaluate this endlessly fascinating and historic region.

Côtes du Rhône reds are the valley's crowd-pleasers. Usually with a big dollop of Grenache, they're peppery and brightly fruited. These chaps' effort goes a step further than the norm by being so effortlessly smooth too, banishing any rough edges sometimes found in the bigger production wines. The organically farmed vines (in conversion to full certification) are up to 50 years old, on sandy clay soils in "La Borde" parcel within their Fournès vineyard. Grapes are picked by hand and the wine is made only in concrete, no oak on this one, so it's super fresh and bright.