Crozes Hermitage blanc On the Rhône Again 2024 Julien Pilon
€24.50
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Product Details
- Format
- 75 cl
- Region
- VALLEE DU RHONE
- Vintage
- 2023
- Ranking
- VILLAGE
- Appellation
- CROZES HERMITAGE
- Degree
- 13.5°
- Color
- White
- Country
- FRANCE
- Author
- Adrien
Julien Pilon's Crozes-Hermitage blanc is fresh and gourmand, a rock-and-roll spirit with serious substance in the glass.
The Crozes-Hermitage Blanc On the Rhône Again 2024 from Julien Pilon is a cuvée whose name is a story before it is a wine. On the Rhône Again, a playful nod to Hank Williams' famous song revived by Bernard Lavilliers, evokes Julien Pilon's return to his native valley after a world tour with his wife, a life interlude from which he returned with the certainty that the northern Rhône was his true territory. Rated 92/100, this 100% Marsanne from two parcels on the commune of Mercurol is one of his most consistent and engaging cuvées, a rock-and-roll white in spirit, but serious in the glass.
Terroir and vines
On the Rhône Again is made from two parcels on the commune of Mercurol, in the heart of the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, the largest in the northern Rhône. Mercurol is one of the appellation's most respected communes for white wines, where the soils are argilo-calcareous mixed with rolled pebbles, a substrate that combines the freshness and minerality of chalky terroirs with the depth and structure of Rhône alluvium. The gentle slopes of these parcels benefit from generous sunshine tempered by the valley's winds, which preserve the natural acidity and aromatic freshness of the variety. Marsanne, the emblematic and almost exclusive grape of northern Rhône whites, expresses its fullest personality here, floral and fruited in its youth, developing honey, beeswax and spice notes with age that make it one of France's most fascinating age-worthy white wines. Vinification is precise and minimally interventionist: pressing followed by strict racking, slow fermentation at low temperature, complete malolactic fermentation, then ten months' ageing on lees in oak barrels with only 10 to 15% new wood, enough to add complexity without masking fruit or terroir.
Tasting notes
The colour is pale gold with silvery glints, bright and of fine intensity. The nose is expansive and highly expressive, typically Marsanne: honeyed and floral notes, acacia, white flowers, fragrant alyssum, intertwine with aromas of yellow peach, ripe apricot and fresh hazelnut, with a light toasted touch from barrel ageing, fine and well-integrated. On the palate, the wine is at once voluminous and fresh, the signature of Julien Pilon with this variety: natural fat and generous amplitude, supported by fine acidity that brings tension and dynamism. The structure is elegant and mineral, echoing Mercurol's argilo-calcareous soil. The finish is long, drawn out by the fine bitters characteristic of Marsanne, with a finely saline touch that extends the wine with elegance and persistence. An airy, flavourful and gourmand white, ready to drink with pleasure now and promised a fine evolution over three to five years.
The domaine
Julien Pilon is one of the most engaging figures in the northern Rhône vineyard. Based in Chavanay on the right bank of the Rhône, he made his first vintages in 2010 in his parents' garage, without land or cellar, before gradually building a producer-négociant operation whose reputation has grown vintage after vintage, winning a star from Revue du Vin de France. Trained by Yves Cuilleron, then at Mas Amiel in Roussillon, in Spain at Banyuls alongside Pierre and Pascale Gaillard, and finally with Pierre-Jean Villa in Chavanay, he has forged a precise and recognisable personal style. His guiding principle is clear: careful ageing, bespoke solutions by parcel and vintage, respect for fruit purity. His range now extends from IGP Collines Rhodaniennes to Hermitage Grand Cru, each cuvée bearing a fanciful name, On the Rhône Again, Mon Grand Père était Limonadier, Dimanche à Lima, like so many postcards from a life well lived.
Food pairings
This Crozes-Hermitage Blanc pairs beautifully with traditional blanquette de veau, pork tenderloin with rosemary, sole meunière, cold langoustines in homemade mayonnaise, white burbot stew, or poultry with cream and morels. It is also delicious with soft-paste cheese such as aged Saint-Marcellin or semi-dry goat cheese. Served between 10 and 12°C, it will reveal the full floral generosity and mineral tension of a great white from the northern Rhône.
Terroir and vines
On the Rhône Again is made from two parcels on the commune of Mercurol, in the heart of the Crozes-Hermitage appellation, the largest in the northern Rhône. Mercurol is one of the appellation's most respected communes for white wines, where the soils are argilo-calcareous mixed with rolled pebbles, a substrate that combines the freshness and minerality of chalky terroirs with the depth and structure of Rhône alluvium. The gentle slopes of these parcels benefit from generous sunshine tempered by the valley's winds, which preserve the natural acidity and aromatic freshness of the variety. Marsanne, the emblematic and almost exclusive grape of northern Rhône whites, expresses its fullest personality here, floral and fruited in its youth, developing honey, beeswax and spice notes with age that make it one of France's most fascinating age-worthy white wines. Vinification is precise and minimally interventionist: pressing followed by strict racking, slow fermentation at low temperature, complete malolactic fermentation, then ten months' ageing on lees in oak barrels with only 10 to 15% new wood, enough to add complexity without masking fruit or terroir.
Tasting notes
The colour is pale gold with silvery glints, bright and of fine intensity. The nose is expansive and highly expressive, typically Marsanne: honeyed and floral notes, acacia, white flowers, fragrant alyssum, intertwine with aromas of yellow peach, ripe apricot and fresh hazelnut, with a light toasted touch from barrel ageing, fine and well-integrated. On the palate, the wine is at once voluminous and fresh, the signature of Julien Pilon with this variety: natural fat and generous amplitude, supported by fine acidity that brings tension and dynamism. The structure is elegant and mineral, echoing Mercurol's argilo-calcareous soil. The finish is long, drawn out by the fine bitters characteristic of Marsanne, with a finely saline touch that extends the wine with elegance and persistence. An airy, flavourful and gourmand white, ready to drink with pleasure now and promised a fine evolution over three to five years.
The domaine
Julien Pilon is one of the most engaging figures in the northern Rhône vineyard. Based in Chavanay on the right bank of the Rhône, he made his first vintages in 2010 in his parents' garage, without land or cellar, before gradually building a producer-négociant operation whose reputation has grown vintage after vintage, winning a star from Revue du Vin de France. Trained by Yves Cuilleron, then at Mas Amiel in Roussillon, in Spain at Banyuls alongside Pierre and Pascale Gaillard, and finally with Pierre-Jean Villa in Chavanay, he has forged a precise and recognisable personal style. His guiding principle is clear: careful ageing, bespoke solutions by parcel and vintage, respect for fruit purity. His range now extends from IGP Collines Rhodaniennes to Hermitage Grand Cru, each cuvée bearing a fanciful name, On the Rhône Again, Mon Grand Père était Limonadier, Dimanche à Lima, like so many postcards from a life well lived.
Food pairings
This Crozes-Hermitage Blanc pairs beautifully with traditional blanquette de veau, pork tenderloin with rosemary, sole meunière, cold langoustines in homemade mayonnaise, white burbot stew, or poultry with cream and morels. It is also delicious with soft-paste cheese such as aged Saint-Marcellin or semi-dry goat cheese. Served between 10 and 12°C, it will reveal the full floral generosity and mineral tension of a great white from the northern Rhône.