Rotem and Mounir Saouma, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhône Valley, France) “Arioso” 2020 (Vintus)

With Arioso, and indeed all of Rotem and Mounir Saouma’s Rhône wines, the finesse and weightlessness of Burgundy meets the muscle of the Rhône. In Burgundy, the husband-and-wife team is a mini-négociant, buying small amounts of grapes or newly pressed wine from growers—typically just a few barrels—raising it, and bottling it under the Lucien Le Moine label. In the Rhône, about a decade ago, they purchased land in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. There, they grow the grapes themselves and make the wines. Arioso comes exclusively from Grenache planted in the 1930s in a single plot in the Pignan region of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Rotem explained to me in 2022 at a tasting of their Burgundies in Beaune that the challenge for them in the Rhône was preserving freshness because they lack the “umbrella of acidity” they have with Pinot Noir in Burgundy. They met the challenge with their majestic 2020 Asioso. An uplifting freshness amplifies its beauty and power. They have imbued a Châteauneuf-du-Pape with finesse and elegance rarely seen in wines from this appellation. They have transported the “flavor without weight” character of Burgundy to the southern Rhône. Hard to resist now, the 2020 Arioso should develop even more complexity as it develops in the bottle—if you can keep your hands off it.
97 Michael Apstein