In the morning of our last whole day in the region we were once again driving to Mercurol’s direction. Only three days earlier we had received a happy surprise in the form of an email when our visit to Dard et Ribo was confirmed. What I found interesting when talking to several notable winemakers at the fair was that no one seemed to know who Dard et Ribo are. Only when mentioning them to Thierry Allemand did we finally get a reassuring smile and a nod. This was quite strange as mostly the winemakers in the region seemed to be a tight bunch, everyone knowing everyone since school boys and jumpers for goalposts.
I had never had a Dard et Ribo wine before this visit and was not sure what to expect. To be honest I might have been a bit afraid that the wines would be too vin de soif for my palate. We actually ended up tasting mostly white wines and reds only from the barrel but overall I found the wines very nice.
By now were not looking to find a sign that would indicate a winery’s presence. Thus we were quite surprised when there actually was one! However it was so old and worn out that unless you know what to look for you will probably not notice it. Pretty cool, I think.
The winery itself looked quite unremarkable which was to be expected. We walked in where it seemed appropriate to find François Ribo himself. Of the two he is the one that lives among the vines, leaving tasks like receiving guests for his business partner. He did not speak much but smiled kindly and took us to René-Jean Dard. Even though we had presented ourselves very clearly in the email we had sent and their Finnish importer had vouched for us René-Jean still looked at us extremely suspiciously. Right away seemed obvious that this winery does not accept random visitors very often.
Despite the less than promising start we walked into the part of the cellar (well, really it is all on one level) where white wine barrels are kept and RJ started talking about their operation while offering tastes straight from the barrels. He commented how it is funny to them that there is now so much talk and hype about natural wines while this is the way they have been making wine for decades. That being said he really did not try to sell their ideology at all. Later after the visit I learned that some of the conventional winemakers in the region have big suspicions of this type of “natural” viticulture and winemaking; as if the wines would automatically end up tasting either faulty or blatantly atypical for the region due to minimal sulfur and no use of sprayings whatsoever. Well, perhaps I am not entirely innocent here myself either despite being a fan of many natural wine producers.
The barrel samples of Marsanne and Roussanne from different plots were really wonderful: extremely lively and of crystalline purity and great precision. Marsanne’s trademark marzipan-like note that I in the worst cases find borderline repulsive is actually really appealing here. It must be noted though that the cellar was extremely cold: the concrete floor made some of my toes go numb and even RJ complained about his fingers freezing at one point. It was definitely a lot colder than in Allemand’s and Yann Chave’s cellars.
In terms of his acceptance of us RJ was slowly warming up and when at one point my friend accidentally started speaking Italian when her French failed her the ice finally broke completely. RJ responded in Italian and a common language had been found. A little later a few laughs were shared when the Super Mario Bros “mushroom”-sound effect came out of RJ’s mobile phone. Very funny to reconnect with something so dear from my childhood in these surroundings. RJ then told us that Japan is a very important export market for them due to their respect for all things unadulterated and pure. He also told that as they have such a large and enthusiastic fan base they get calls constantly from people wanting to visit the winery and mostly they politely turn those requests down.
Regarding vinification I was happy to learn that carbonic maceration is not being practiced by Dard et Ribo. After the whites, which age in small barrels, we got to taste several parcels of their red Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph that age in bigger casks (500-600 liter I believe). Very tasty, mineral-driven wines, though very cold as mentioned and partly a bit reductive at this stage. The main goal here is to make wines that drink well right off the bat; they are not looking to make vins de garde. They often make a large number of single plot bottlings and for those the vineyard is marked in hand-writing. When we moved to the next room to taste some bottled wines there was a younger man at the labeling line doing just this work.
As we were about to taste the bottled whites it was already starting to be very close to our lunch reservation at Le Mangevins. We managed to notify Vincent that we would be a little late but had we decided to taste also the reds we would have been so badly late that it was simply out of the question. The bottled whites however were very nice. For the wallet the 2015 Saint-Joseph was a delight: lifted, firm and deliciously aromatic. We had no capacity to buy wine to bring home anymore but wanted to buy a bottle to enjoy at the house. RJ would have none of it, instead he gifted us a bottle!
The grande finale was their 2015 white Hermitage. A 100 % Roussanne, this was just a powerhouse of a wine. Structured and concentrated but not heavy, approachable yet with tons of promise. When asked about ageing potential RJ said that their white Hermitage has a lot longer drinking window than the red counterpart. I would have loved to replace one of my previous purchases with this but unfortunately this wine of miniscule production was not for sale. I was wondering about the synthetic black corks which are used for all of their wines but this was not discussed unfortunately.
What started slightly awkwardly developed eventually into a very warm-spirited affair. Had we not had to leave for the lunch our visit would have lasted over three hours easily. After some time René-Jean really opened up and seemed to enjoy the discussion himself. I got the impression that due to some unpleasant experiences many years ago he has become very suspicious of strangers wanting to visit him but for those who understand and enjoy their wines he definitely has time. Even more so I am extremely happy that we were allowed to visit, try the wines and get to know the man a little bit. I cannot say that I really know their red wines at this point but I was really impressed by the quality of their whites. I think they are some of the purest and most stylish in the region. And should an aged example of their white Hermitage ever come my way…
Back at Le Mangevins Vincent happily greeted us when we arrived and took us to our table. Just as the day before we were willing to have as an aperitif whatever he would recommend and this time it was a 2015 Crozes-Hermitage Blanc by Robert & Stéphane Rousset. I think they were also at the fair in Ampuis but we had not tasted the wines there. Perhaps we should have as this was a very nice example of its kind: dry, focused and energetic with bright fruit.
To pair with the main course we had already decided the wine beforehand. We had tried to arrange a visit to Jean-Claude Marsanne in Mauves but never got an answer. Vincent was surprised to hear that the man even has an email address in the first place. The wine was superb. I immediately thought of Gonon (naturally, as it is the same village) but with a structure that allows for drinking already at age three. In other words, this is as authentic a Saint-Joseph as only can be: black-fruited, savory and bloody/iron-y with awesome sticky tannins. I love Gonon but it is more expensive and according to my experience really requires time in the cellar. The bottle was emptied fast, which is a testament to the wine’s very high drinkability.
After spending a solid amount of money on wine on this trip we finally caught a break as there was a man presenting his own coffee to three gentlemen in the table next to ours. He offered us cups also and we naturally accepted. He turned out to be from Paris where he owns several restaurants, among them one called Le Richer of which my female friend happened to have visited several times. Seems like a nice place, I need to check it out the next time I am in Paris. The coffee was also very smooth and tasty.
Before leaving this wonderful restaurant we just had to have a digestif as there was a big selection of vintages of Laubade Bas-Armagnac to choose from. Excellent decision. We were lucky to find all our birth years: '71, '81 and '85. Again we were a really happy bunch and vowed to come back whenever we are in the region again.