2016 Saint-Joseph Les Challeys

Claire Darnaud and Jacques Grange have crafted an impressive set of graceful wines from the 2016 vintage; in fact, they rival the outstanding collection produced here in 2015 but, predictably, in a more graceful and forward style. Claire calls the 2016s “wines that are exceptionally true to their origin, without too much ripeness to hide their character or too much tannin to make them require long aging to be expressive.” The past decade has seen this long-established grower/négociant’s wines steadily rise into the upper quality tier of the region, with the Hermitages Les Bessards and Côte-Rôtie La Landonne now consistently among the top bottlings of those appellations.