Louis Bernard Reviews

Powerfully lifted black pepper, rose petal, red cherry, forest floor, liquorice, baking spice and herbal aromatics. Really complex, with polished fruits and oak spice on the palate. Watch this space.

Juicy yet restrained style, with mineral-laced cherry and plum notes mixed with garrigue accents. Hints of tea and incense line the finish. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2027. 1,500 cases made, 100 cases imported. — JM

Black cherry; clove; plums; luscious fruit.

Just-melted licorice, plum reduction and warm fruit cake aromas and flavors are supported by fresh acidity. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2025. 2,500 cases made, 200 cases imported. — JM

The full-bodied 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Domaine la Crau des Papes is a fine effort from  this widely distributed négociant. Garrigue, tea and floral notes accent raspberry and cherry fruit in this silky-textured wine, which remains lively and fresh through the long finish.

Slightly more expensive, the 2016 Vacqueyras Domaine de Montbayon is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre that was brought up all in tank. It offers plenty of earthy black and blue fruits, peppery herbs and hints of violets in a full-bodied, impressively concentrated, balanced style. It’s just another outstanding looking barrel sample from this negociant. 

This is a plump, medium-bodied rosé, one that ably marries strawberry fruit with hints of cracked pepper and cinnamon. Best Buy. —J.C. 

This Plump, succulent wine has enough cinnamon and peppery spice notes to maintain interest sip after sip. 

Year's Best Rhone
Red cherry flavors ring out with bell-tone clarity in this wine, herbal notes edging the ripe, juicy flavors. It feels cool and fresh, with a little vanilla and spice to smooth over the stony flavors beneath the fruit. 

Best Buy 
Firm and savory, this is all lemons and stones, the flavors kept fresh by the wine's bright acidity. 

Best Buy

This isn’t the biggest or ripest Côtes du Rhône, but it balances hints of greenness with fresh cherry fruit. The floral notes on the nose are attractive, while the wine finishes firm and crisp. Boisset Family Estates. —J.C. 

This well known négociant has turned in a sold effort. The nose is slightly herbal, but with attractive black-pepper shadings, while the fruit flavors favor dark skinned plum. Drink this medium-bodied, supple wine over the next few years. —J.C. 

Best Buy. This is waxy and broad, with earth and herbal notes curbing the sweetness of the fruit. Give it a light chill for a goat cheese salad.

Best Buy. Cherry bright and gamey, this is an easy pour for grilled fennel sausages.

Lightly nutty, with a toasted almond note followed by yellow apple and shortbread flavors. A dried pineapple hint shows on the finish.

Also well done and a fair value, the 2010 Louis Bernard Côtes du Rhône Domaine Le Garrigon, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan, shows loads of red and black fruits, leaf tobacco, damp earth, and pepper, to go with a medium-bodied, supple, lightly textured palate. There’s not much depth here, but it’s very well balanced, improves in the glass, and excels for its approachable, easy drinking character. It should be enjoyed over the coming 2-3 years.