CDR Les Oliviers Half Bottle Estezargues 375ml 2024

CDR Les Oliviers HALF BOTTLE Estezargues 375ml, , hearty, full bodied, fruity, Natural Grenache blend.  Les Oliviers is Cotes du Rhone with great character and plump fresh fruit, named after the olive tress which carpet the landscape alongside the vines and fields of Lavender. Like its sister wine, the Cuvee des Galets, it is made with no intervention, wild yeast and no fining or filtration. This is pure gutsy Rhone, a bit ‘Sauvage’ round the edges. Imagine a large terra cotta jug of the stuff with some stew of wild boar in a blustery winter night. Very moreish and very good value.

Les Vignerons d'Estezargues is a super little Co-Op located near Avignon.

Like other Co-Operative wineries, they receive grapes from members and use them to make bulk wines, usually Grenche, Syrah and Mourvedre. Here they work a little differently though, as since 1995 they have been making natural wines, and not just gimmicky, box-ticking natural wines - proper natural wines. Only indigenous grapes are used here, no filtration, no fining and an absolute minimum of sulphites. Whilst not certified, the growers restrict chemical use on the vineyards. Working in this way allows them to produce wines of incredible character but at probably the best price you're likely to find for a wine like this.