La Papesse is comprised of 100% Grenache from 50-70-yr-old vines. From a mix of clay, limestone, gravel, and sand. Partially destemmed.

About Domaine Gramenon

Domaine Gramenon is a beacon for the natural wine scene in southern France. This pocket in the northern reaches of the Côtes du Rhone appellation has been the first place I turn to champion the best of what's arisen during this slow-building but now explosive natural wine movement.

Gramenon's brilliance comes in harnessing the sun-baked southern Rhone and endowing their fleshy wines with a level of briskness and refreshment that's simply unrivaled. Drinkability isn't the sexiest descriptor, but damn, these epitomize that quenching trait more so than any other name in this region. When placed on a crowded dinner table, they're often the first wines emptied. Soft tannins, seamless texture, and fruit so fresh as if it were just plucked from those gnarled gobelet vines.

Michèle Aubèry-Laurent and her husband Philippe founded Gramenon in 1978. Eleven years later, the couple bottled their very first wine. Their vision for the estate was a grand one: A place where organic farming and biodynamic principles extended beyond wine, incorporating growing their own produce and raising animals.

If the southern Rhone Valley has pulled you into Châteauneuf du Pape, or even quaffable Côtes du Rhones, you must try Gramenon. And if you're in a camp that's shied away from these two appellations, I suggest you use the modest pricing to reacquaint yourself with the alternative and natural side in the Süd.