Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In preparation for the imminent ability to bottle white wine under the Gigondas appellation, Louis Barruol has added another single-vineyard Clairette. The 2021 Cotes du Rhone Blanc Hominis Fides is a fine example from six-year-old vines, boasting gentle wood-spice accents to white-peach fruit and a touch of honeyed richness. It's medium to full-bodied, plump and rounded in the mouth, then finishes long and mouthwatering, with echoes of lime zest.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Côtes Du Rhône Hominis Fides Blanc is 100% Clairette, mostly from younger vines. Crushed pineapple, honeyed lemon, chalky minerality, and white flower notes all emerge on the nose, and this beauty is medium-bodied, with some minty, herbal nuances, good acidity, and outstanding length. While it doesn't match the Le Poste Blanc, I suspect largely due to vine age at this point, it's clear that there's serious potential here and the best is yet to come.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Typically thought of as a baby Chateâuneuf-du-Pape, the term Côtes du Rhône actually doesn’t merely apply to the flatter outskirts of the major southern Rhône appellations, it also includes the fringes of well-respected northern Rhône appellations. White wines can be produced under the appellation name, but very little is actually made.
The region offers some of the best values in France and even some first-rate and age-worthy reds. Red wine varieties include most of the Chateâuneuf-du-Pape varieties like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counoise, as well as Carignan. White grapes grown include Grenache blanc, Roussanne and Viognier, among others.