Pierre Jean Villa Fongeant Côte-Rôtie 2022

When we met Pierre Jean at Wine Paris last year – and then tasted his wines – it was instant, true love. He’s one of those winemakers who emits sincere fervor for his craft and land, and everything about his wines shows it: organic and biodynamic viticulture, minimal intervention in the cellar, and thoughtful sourcing and farming methods. Though he’s decidedly under the radar, his estate is a secret we’ll happily share...

Pierre Jean’s story is one of steady growth. He didn’t inherit a large family estate – rather, he built his mighty reputation from scratch. Raised in Chavanay, Pierre Jean trained and worked in Burgundy in the ‘90s, including notable operations like Clos de Tart. In the early 2000s, he returned to the Rhône to join the collaborative Vins de Vienne project with Yves Cuilleron, François Villard, and Pierre Gaillard, earning a deep understanding of the area’s terroirs. In 2009, he launched his own domaine, starting truly independently on steep and challenging hillsides around Chavanay and Vérin. Now, he has about 17 hectares across several Northern Rhône appellations, with his children now helping guide its future.

Of the mere 480 bottles imported of the 2022 Fongeant Côte-Rôtie, we have just 90 bottles for allocation. From granite terraces layered with clay, gneiss, and iron oxide, these old massal-selection vines are over 60 years old. Seventy percent whole cluster, a 20-day soak, and aging for two years in traditional and large 500-liter barrels yield a wine of striking depth and power. Expect dense notes of dark chocolate-covered cherries, dusty plums, rich espresso beans, charred cedar, pepper-crusted jerky, and cooling bay laurel on the finish. It’s covered in whisper-soft tannins, and the texture is molten-like with loads of power to lay down for many years, even decades, to come.