RASTEAU
2023 Domaine Élodie Balme
2023 RASTEAU Domaine Élodie Balme - 20% aged Foudre 50% Grenache 20% Carignan 20% Mourvedre 10% Syrah Lovely colour, violets, redcurrant, dark cherry, red cherry, soft & fruity, with a little spice too, very nicely put together, delicious, very nicely done. L&S (Oct 2024)
75cl bottles (case of 12)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Domaine Élodie Balme
The rise of Domaine Elodie Balme is a story that is becoming increasingly familiar, and not only in the Rhône valley. A small family-owned vineyard that grows fruit and used to sell the harvest to the local cave cooperative is taken over by a more adventurous, commercially minded and less risk adverse child, who decides to leave the financial safety blanket that the cooperative provides. Striving to make a name for themselves, creating a label and a following that will lead to proud parents congratulating themselves for the wise decision to take the risk and pass on the family estate to the care of their sons and daughters.
This is certainly a story that has reaped rewards with Domaine Elodie Balme in the Southern Rhône appellation of Rasteau.
Grenache is the key player in these parts along with the usual suspects Mourvèdre and Syrah, although this variety is playing less of a role with each passing vintage. Elodie has a slightly new approach that marks her wines out against a lot of very good domaines. She has a very particular 'fruit forward' style, with emphasis very much on the freshness of the wine. A quick walk around the vineyards surrounding the estate and you can see why, some lovely blue marl which is excellent for water retention and therefore helping grapes reach full maturity in a hot environment, all the 28 hectares are farmed organically and have a beautiful aspect looking south toward the Dentelles de Montmirail that dominates the skyline.
The winemaking is kept very simple. Why complicate things when you have such great source material, such beautifully ripe grapes? Fermentation takes place in concrete with a little of the wine aged in old barrels and small foudres. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to walk around a winery and not have the winemaker gush enthusiastically about the 'barrel room' where the wines are aged. I counted maybe 8 barrels, increasingly this is becoming the norm in the southern Rhône as winemakers seek balance and freshness and age wines mostly in tank to help preserve this.
Élodie has been highlighted by respected wine journalist Matt Walls as 'one of the rising stars of the appellation' Whether you like the Vin de France, a wine with a splash of Merlot to give it body, or the Rasteau, a delicious drop of Grenache-infused Rhône delight, or the more serious Roaix (the neighbouring appellation) with a touch more spice, you can rest assured these are some of the finest wines being made in Rasteau and the southern Rhône and extremely good value.
Rasteau is one of the modern success stories of newly elevated 'village' that has attained Cru status and has not looked back since gaining elevation in 2010, but success can only really be judged by the public awareness and recognition of the names backed up in no small part by sales, something that thankfully Rasteau has managed to achieve in little more than a decade. Roaix may be less well-known, but the wine is well worth discovering.
ORDERING VIA OUR WEBSITE:
- Click on the 'ORDER' button to add cases to your Wishlist order form. The Wishlist appears in both the sidebar and header (separately from the main basket).
- You can view and edit your Wishlist at any time before submitting the order form.
- Submit your Wishlist order form with your details and please indicate any special requirements in the notes, including whether you would like the wines duty paid.
- We will respond as quickly as possible with confirmation of your order and your invoice.
Please note that certain wines are on very tight allocations and will first be offered to customers who buy across the range. If you have any queries, please email our primeurs team or speak to your usual L&S contact.
ORDERING VIA EMAIL:
Please feel free to email us your Wishlist at any time. This list can include wines listed as available on the website, as well as those marked 'To Be Advised'. We will reply as soon as possible with confirmation of what we can offer.
STORAGE OPTIONS:
Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.
While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.
() or your normal Lea and Sandeman contact.RHÔNE PRIMEUR FAQ
OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.
PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.
DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.
DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £500. If you require wines duty paid, please indicate this in your Wishlist order form. A duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.
PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.