2013 Château de Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Réserve

The 2013 Château de Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Réserve is produced by Emmanuel Reynaud at the same estate that makes the legendary Château Rayas, and it's one of the Southern Rhône's most sought-after insider bottles — a Côtes du Rhône that routinely outperforms its modest appellation designation and rivals top Châteauneuf-du-Pape in depth and pedigree. Sourced from old-vine parcels of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah farmed organically around the château, the wine is made with minimal intervention: native-yeast fermentation, no destemming, aging in large old oak foudres, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2013 vintage is a cooler, more classically styled year in the Southern Rhône, leaning into finesse rather than the power and richness of warmer seasons. Emmanuel Reynaud farms the vineyards at Fonsalette using the same exacting organic approach and hands-off winemaking philosophy that has made Château Rayas a benchmark estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The estate's parcels sit on sandy soils mixed with galets roulés — the rounded stones characteristic of the region — which provide excellent drainage and moderate vine vigor. In the cellar, Reynaud follows a strict non-interventionist path: whole-cluster fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no temperature control, and extended aging in large neutral oak foudres that allow the wine to develop complexity without adding oak flavor. The result is a wine that speaks directly to its terroir and vintage, bottled unfined and unfiltered to preserve texture and aromatic integrity. The 2013 vintage delivers a beautifully aromatic profile of wild strawberry, red cherry, dried roses, blood orange, garrigue, exotic spice, and tea leaf, all wrapped in an elegant, ethereal frame. On the palate it's silky and precise, prioritizing purity, freshness, and transparency over sheer weight, with fine-grained tannins and a lingering mineral finish that echoes the stony soils of the Southern Rhône. This is a wine that rewards patience — it's approachable now but will continue to evolve gracefully over the next decade. Pair it with roasted duck, grilled lamb chops with herbs de Provence, or a selection of aged cheeses and charcuterie. It's the kind of bottle that reveals more with each sip, and it's exactly the type of producer-driven, terroir-focused wine we seek out for the shelves in Lincoln Park. The 2013 Château de Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Réserve is available for pickup at our Lincoln Park shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.