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This wine is shockingly good! Renaud Boyer St Romain 2018 is one of the most elegant reds from 2018. He uses 100% whole cluster without any pump-overs but just one punching down without any SO2. The wine is showing superb purity, and it's CLEAN without any funky natural wine nuance. It’s full of crushed red wild berries, that scent of forest in the morning, and sweet stems with superb length and tension. I was lucky enough to find a case, so grab it while it lasts. - Daniel
This tiny domaine is new to me, which I better understood once I learned that Reynaud exploits only a few hectares and that an almost negligible quantity makes it to our shores. Most of his holdings are scattered around his home base of St.-Romain, from which he makes minuscule quantities of blanc et rouge. Quantities this small allow Reynaud to touch every grape and control every aspect of his very meticulous winemaking regimen. His is a natural approach, with zero sulfur and 100% whole cluster for the reds.
This comes entirely from the lieu-dit ‘Le Village Bas,’ effectively the southwest corner of ‘Sous le Château,’ St.-Romain’s most revered vineyard. Rather than that flamboyant, very exotic style of natural/whole-cluster, this is a wine of greater understatement and obvious seriousness, very red-fruited (pomegranate!), the stems giving real tension and lift. This wine incited a lively discussion of our collective assumptions about the qualitative potential of individual vineyards, the result of which was the unanimous opinion that this wine convincingly topples assumptions about where one might expect to locate vinous greatness. Masterful winemaking here. - Jason
Amazingly, the vines in Saint-Romain Renaud Boyer inherited from his uncle had been farmed bio-dynamically since the mid 80s. Although the winemaking is without sulfur, Renaud's high standards ensure that nothing but the most stable wines are released. How fortunate we are that he is so uncommonly diligent! His reds are whole bunch macerated for approximately 3 weeks. There are no pump overs and just one gentle pigeage.
The 2018 Saint Romain is bursting with sour cherry and pomegranate as well as abundant florals (rose and peony). There is shockingly little evidence of whole cluster in terms of stem spice; instead there is overriding brightness and delicacy. It has beautiful delineation which carries through to the energetic palate. So mouthwatering and delicious. Days of wine and roses, if only we could have more...
