Insider tip: The powerful dark fruit, infinite minerality, and brooding intensity of Jean-Louis Chave’s legendary $300+ L’Hermitage can also be found in his $85 ‘Farconnet’ bottling.

It’s neither fair nor accurate to label “Farconnet” a lesser second label or négociant wine. On the contrary, it is a chiseled, profound, and extremely serious Syrah vinified in Jean-Louis’ gorgeous new cellar in Mauves. Countless Northern Rhône reds come across my desk each year but only a select few can rival this extraordinary typicity and brooding mineral core of this Hermitage Syrah. With a long, undisturbed fermentation in tonneaux and stainless steel, plus 24 months of aging in mostly used French barriques, this is a powerful, calculated Syrah beast; a world-class Hermitage through and through.