2022 Domaine René Rostaing, Puech Noble Rouge "Le Vassal"

If the subject is Syrah—its greatest terroirs, its best producers—the name Rostaing is sure to come up. René Rostaing began tending some family vineyards in Côte-Rôtie in the early 1970s, then catapulted to prominence in the 1990s, when he inherited prime parcels from two legends of the appellation: Marius Gentaz (his uncle/mentor) and Albert Dervieux (his father-in-law). As Rostaing’s Côte-Rôties achieved cult status, he and his wife purchased a property further south in the Coteaux du Languedoc, which offered the opportunity to create a different expression of Syrah—one grown in limestone soils, in a Mediterranean climate, and leavened with some Mourvèdre and Grenache. “Le Vassal” is a bold and soulful Syrah, a departure from the more chiseled style of Côte-Rôtie, but no less pedigreed. It’s also an amazing value from the treasure trove that is the Languedoc. The idolization of René Rostaing’s wines begins in the 1990s with the inheritance of truly impeccable, cult-status raw materia