2021 Val Des Rois Cotes Du Rhone Le Petit Roy

Val des Rois — "Valley of the King" — is nestled in the hills outside of Valréas in the Southern Rhône, one of the northernmost and coolest pockets of the appellation.

The pure limestone slopes roll through the hills and peak at over 1,300 feet in elevation, and through a combination of organic farming and cool-climate fruit, Val des Rois crafts wines of exceptional balance and purity. Winemaker Stéphane has built a reputation for proposing a markedly different approach to Rhône winemaking, one that prizes freshness and acidity where others pursue extraction and full ripeness — a philosophy Robert Parker once celebrated by calling him "one of the young, energetic Turks of Châteauneuf-du-Pape."

Val des Rois' calling card for red wines is the deliberate omission of oak, preferring the freshness and vitality of concrete aging. Le Petit Roy embodies that philosophy in its purest form.

A 50/50 blend of Grenache and Syrah, the wine draws from organically farmed vines averaging 39 years old, grown on clay-limestone slopes with south and southeast exposure at 1,312 feet above sea level.

The equal share of Syrah gives Le Petit Roy a uniquely high proportion of the variety for the Côtes du Rhône appellation. Fermentation is carried out by indigenous yeast, the vinification is fully protected from oxygen under nitrogen gas, and the wine is bottled without any sulfur addition — a testament to the domaine's commitment to minimal-intervention winemaking.