The roots of the family Domaine reach back to 1920 when Louis Pasquion’s grandfather bought a few acres because of his passion for the vine and his desire to make wine for personal consumption. Located in Mercurol, about five minutes east of the town of Tain l’Hermitage, the estate is currently run by Gilles Robin. He is passionate about the Syrah varietal above all others, and has the following to say, the art of blending Syrah styles sublimate the wines from our terroirs. Syrah grapes have an extraordinary capacity of adaptation and thus are able to express themselves in different ways. To each terroir a revelation. Today the Domaine owns 40 acres of vines, all of which are farmed manually using organic composts. Their vision is to respect the environment and allow the vines to thrive without the use of chemicals. My go-to wine from this estate is the Cuvée Papillon, which comes from relatively younger vines, at around 20 years of age, which will soon be included in their top old-vine bottling. The fruit for this wine is completely destemmed after harvest then fermented and aged in stainless steel, which preserves the beautiful character of the varietal without oak influence. The result is a wine that always leaves me stunned by its purity and expression of place.

 

The 2015 Papillon displays an opaque, dark purple core with magenta hues on the rim. Lively aromas of freshly picked blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, black plum, violets, and wildflowers are wound around classic notes of black pepper, dried meat and a touch of olive. The palate is medium-plus in body and presents a beautiful core with fresh black and blue fruit, which delineates into textbooks flavors of violets, wild herbs, black pepper, dried meat and cured olives, for a benchmark expression of Northern Rhône red. This stunning bottle of Syrah is an ideal candidate to stow away for another 5-7 years, although it is absolutely delightful in its youth. For instant gratification, decant for 30 minutes and serve in large Bordeaux stems just above cellar temperature. A large stem is ideal for the aromatics to show at their best; Burgundy stems will work beautifully as well. Do not serve this wine too warm; 60 degrees is recommended for the nose to be in perfect balance. If you do not have a wine cellar, simply put the decanter in the fridge for 15 minutes or so to bring the temperature down before serving. For an unforgettable marriage of flavors, serve Cuvée Papillon with this New York Times recipe for Lamb Tagine with Olives.