2017 Domaine Giraud Côtes-du-Rhône Les Sables d’Arène

Finding value in the hidden corners of the wine world is what gets us really excited. Sure, we love Grands Crus as much as the next guy, but what’s really satisfying is finding the unsung stars overflowing with deliciousness and with great stories behind them. Domaine Giraud Côtes-du-Rhône Les Sables d’Arène gives us that just-struck-gold feeling. 

At $22 and full of fresh crushed black raspberry fruit, licorice, leather, and crushed violets, this has all the elements of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape special cuvée that should retail for double or triple the price. 

The main reason for the price-quality mismatch here is arcane French wine law. The grapes for Les Sables d’Arène are from the Southern Rhône village of Lirac and are all Grenache. Unlike its neighbor Châteauneuf-du-Pape three miles to the east, Lirac wines must be a blend—and only allow 40% Grenache. But the Girauds would never dilute the power and precision of their 65- to 75-year-old Grenache with younger wines. Their defiance of the regional wine law, not to mention sacrifice of prestige and profit, gives us this pure, delicious picture of a special site in Lirac.

Situated on the western bank of the valley that Andrew Jefford calls the “land of tangy speech, of lavender, of old songs,” where the Carthaginian Hannibal forded the Rhône with his army (and elephants!) on the way to crossing the Alps to surprise the Romans, Lirac boasts the same galets or “pudding stones” of Châteauneuf. But here, the galets lie atop much sandier soil than most of that more famous AOC. The exception, of course, is Château Rayas, whose sandy parcels in the northeast of Châteauneuf give the most elegant (and sought after) wines of the whole appellation. Rayas’s Châteauneuf is also often 100% Grenache… and thousands of dollars per bottle. 

The Giraud family, who have been growing grapes in both Lirac and Châteauneuf for centuries, only started bottling their own wines in 1998. Their vineyards are certified organic and the harvest is by hand. Les Sables d’Arène sees just a brief élevage of six months, two thirds in concrete and one third in neutral French demi-muids (large barrels around 600L). Writer Jeb Dunnuck comments that “… these are elegant, seamless wines, and this is unquestionably one of my favorite estates in France.”

The 2017 Les Sables d’Arène continues the cuvée’s tradition of impressing the critics, with Dunnuck proclaiming it’s “another incredible winner from this estate, which seems incapable of putting a foot wrong. Ripe red and black fruits, spice, and tons of garrigue dominate this ripe, sexy, pleasure-bent effort that’s ideal for drinking anytime over the coming 4-5 years. It’s certainly worth a case purchase.” 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 15.00%
• 30 mins
• Drink Up
• 100% Grenache
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork