Pierre Benetiere
Sometimes serendipity plays a role in sourcing wine and so it was
when Alex and Philip knocked on the "wrong door" in the Northern Rhone this
year only to find Pierre Benetiere. After being invited to taste his Condrieu
and Cote-Rotie they enquired about whether or not they could buy some wine to
import into Australia (we almost never do this preferring to let the
romance of place not influence buying decisions). Pierre Benetiere replied that
all of his tiny production was allocated and that someone needed to die
before he could reditsribute a little to Australia.
At this point it's important to offer our condolences to the family of whomever shuffled off this mortal coil and thank them for the fact that we now have a miniscule allocation of these excellent wines for Australia.
A relatively recent addition to the winemaking fraternity of the Northern Rhone, Benetiere first acquired 2-hectares of Cote-Rotie in 1980 (Cote-Blonde, Cordeloux) which he has painstakingly cleared and replanted over the ensuing years along with a small plot in Condrieu above Chateau Grillet and a tiny plot in the middle of the famed La Turque vineyard. The vineyards are farmed along organic lines with spraying for mildew being the only chemicals that come near the vines.
In making the wines his approach is largely traditional and hands off; natural yeasts, generally no destemming and low to moderate use of new oak are the order of the day. The wines themselves are noteable for their balance, purity of fruit and textured terroir-driven middle palate. PWS
At this point it's important to offer our condolences to the family of whomever shuffled off this mortal coil and thank them for the fact that we now have a miniscule allocation of these excellent wines for Australia.
A relatively recent addition to the winemaking fraternity of the Northern Rhone, Benetiere first acquired 2-hectares of Cote-Rotie in 1980 (Cote-Blonde, Cordeloux) which he has painstakingly cleared and replanted over the ensuing years along with a small plot in Condrieu above Chateau Grillet and a tiny plot in the middle of the famed La Turque vineyard. The vineyards are farmed along organic lines with spraying for mildew being the only chemicals that come near the vines.
In making the wines his approach is largely traditional and hands off; natural yeasts, generally no destemming and low to moderate use of new oak are the order of the day. The wines themselves are noteable for their balance, purity of fruit and textured terroir-driven middle palate. PWS