Chateau Joanny Cotes du Rhone Blanc 1998

A clear, bright sunshine imbued robe delivers scents of honey and summer fruits: peaches, apricot and pear permeate the nose. Gentle, immensely flavorful and completely seductive in the mouth, the 1998 Chateau Joanny is so easy to drink you will want to open a second bottle well before you finish the first. It’s medium body, full flavor and great balance might even convince you to invite a friend or two over to enjoy a third bottle. Enjoy!

Who needs food when you have a bottle of the Chateau Joanny Cotes du Rhone Blanc open? But if you insist, why not try it with a mild goat cheese, a ripe pear and a good loaf of fresh baked bread. Yum! Another delightful pairing is stuffed mushrooms with a hint of Herb de Provence. Lastly, a ripe melon with prosciutto is another dish we have enjoyed with this delightful wine. Why not have a party?

An integral part of the Dupond family of estates since 1880, Chateau Joanny is located in the heart of the Massif d’Uchaux near Orange in the Vaucluse region of Provence. The soil is a clay-limestone covered with rolled pebbles, very similar to the terroir of nearby Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Under the capable direction of Pierre Choupin, Chateau Joanny fashions a delightful white Cotes du Rhone from 35% Viognier, and the balance equally divided between the Grenache Blanc and Clairette Blanche. They key to this estate’s success with the normally difficult white Cotes du Rhone cepage is a 48 hour cold skin maceration, followed by a traditional crushing and a long, cold fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. This insures the maximum flavor extraction along with a freshness and vibrancy, that is typically lacking in white Cotes de Rhone. A very high percentage of the aristocratic, expensive Viognier is undoubtedly another factor in this domaine’s great success with white Cotes du Rhone.