2021 Georges Lelektsoglou Cairanne Vieilles Vignes
– $29.99 for 90 Year Old Vines (Case Pricing @ $27.99)
– 90 Points from Jeb Dunnuck
– 90+ year Old Cairanne Vines
– Amazing Nose: Lavender, Garrigue, Menthol
– Earth, Wet Earth
– Black Cherry, Cassis
– Wonderful Purity and Freshness
– So Precise on the Palate
– Clean, Rich, Precise Fruit
– Dazzling Freshness
– Cooling Blue Fruits
– Will Drink Well for 10-15 Years
– Cairanne Is Now a Cru on the Same Level as Gigondas
– Fass Selections US Exclusive / $27.99 CASE PRICING
“The 2021 Cairanne Vieilles Vignes is beautiful, with a soft, supple, forward style that’s impossible to resist. Wild strawberries, flowers, subtle peppery herbs, and a kiss of minerality define the aromatics, and it’s medium-bodied, elegant, and balanced, with a great finish..” – 90 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
George Lelektsoglou (the “Greek”) is the most respected wine retailer in the Rhone. He’s been the first person to sell most of the famous names. He doesn’t just know every vineyard in the Rhone. He knows every rock and every vine. What many people don’t know is that he makes a small number of wines. When he is able to source incredible grapes, he secures them and makes incredible wines that are insane values. Long time Fass listers can attest to some of the incredible values that we’ve had from him. And today? Today is one of the craziest values you’ll ever see.
A Note on the Score of the Wine and 2021.
This wine got a 90 from Jeb Dunnuck in 2021 and it got 94 in 2020 and 93-95 in 2022. I love all 3 versions but 21 holds a special place in my heart as it’s stylistically a cooler climate wine which is so rare these days for Grenache styled wines. Jeb is a dear friend and he makes no apologies about liking bigger, richer and more muscular wines and I make no apologies about liking more fresh, acidic, crisp and crunchy style wines but having said that I love 2022 and 2020 and while we are at it, 2015, 2017 and 2019. A metaphor I like to use it what movies or tv shows I watch. Some TV shows I know are very high quality and transcendent like The Wire or Breaking Bad. Can I watch them every night? No. But they are indisputably great. These are the 1990 Chave Hermitage and 2015 Cuchet Beliando Cornas of TV shows. I also like LOST and the X Files. Great TV shows, don’t get me wrong, but not as good in an absolute qualitative way like The Wire or Breaking Bad. They are cool and fun and I can have them on while I prep for dinner etc. I don’t need to be paying 100% attention to them as I have seen them so many times. They bring me comfort. That’s like the vintages of this Cairanne. 20/22 are like The Wire and 21 is like LOST. Both are great and both have a role and function in my life and both I cannot live without.
The Wine
Today we have the 2021 Georges Lelektsoglou Cairanne Vieilles Vignes for $29.99 on a 4-Pack and $27.99 on a case from 90+ year old Cairanne vines. This is a wonder. It drinks so well and has a level of precision, finesse and density that wines of this level hardly ever have. And serious wine geek clients who drink blingy expensive wine love this stuff. It’s got stuffing. It’s got refinement but also the bombastic fruit of 2020 and the cool climate character of 2021. Amazing material here.
The nose is stunning. You can’t believe the wine is this inexpensive. Lavender, garrigue, menthol, earth, wet earth, cassis, super aromatic. After air it gains a liquer-like aroma that is spellbinding. Also tons of black cherry and deep, deep cassis. It’s everything you want out of an inexpensive wine which is a wine with “expensive wine DNA” but still has the charm of an inexpensive wine. Wonderful purity and freshness.
So precise on the palate. Big, richpalate but dazzlingly fresh and straight as an arrow with such amazing precision. Incredibly pure. This has all the terrific stoniness the South is known for but with really clean, rich, precise fruit. The Greek has an amazing hand with Grenache on it’s own like in his CDP or blended like this Cairanne. Big chewy, amazingly ripe tannins and big acids give this wine structure and the ability to age for 10-12 years.
At this point it needs a 20 minute decant and will drink well for 10-12 years. The blend is 25% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Mourvedre and 25% Carignan. Great and unusual blend. If I’m drinking Southern Rhone it tends to be for explosive yet contained fruit. Backed by the stoniness of the Southern Rhone it can be a dreamy combo and what one wants. But this also being more north you get a lot of the cooling blue fruits that are preponderant in the North. If I could create a Cairanne from scratch this is how it should taste. I think this will gain finesse over time and become even more of a knockout, thus the case pricing. In February of 2016 Cairanne was elevated and is now a Cotes du Rhone Cru. This means the wines can be labeled without Cotes-Du-Rhone Villages anymore. It’s the same level as Gigondas, but less expensive. For now. This is an extreme value.
“The 2021 Cairanne Vieilles Vignes is beautiful, with a soft, supple, forward style that’s impossible to resist. Wild strawberries, flowers, subtle peppery herbs, and a kiss of minerality define the aromatics, and it’s medium-bodied, elegant, and balanced, with a great finish..” – 90 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
I call George the Kingmaker because you know you’ve arrived when your wines are sold in his store. All of the top winemakers speak his name with reverence. The Greek knows every AOC, every vineyard in every AOC and every rock in every vineyard like the back of his hand. And while he makes fancier wines under his own name, I think that this wine is his greatest accomplishment. Why? Because it drinks like a really, really good wine that costs twice as much. If it cost $45, I would still happily sell it
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 with your order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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A Word about Fass Selections and Social Media
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