Henri Bonneau
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The late, great Henri Bonneau is a vigneron to whom few can hold a candle; in the Rhône you could only name a few, such as Jacques Reynaud, who had done as much to raise the prominence and quality of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Much as his late friend Reynaud, Bonneau devoted much of his blend and his vineyards to the Grenache grape whose elegance and power few have ever so elegantly harnessed. His cuvées are beautifully age-worthy, particularly the famed Réserve des Céestins, perhaps the greatest bottling in the region.
None of Bonneau's wines are de-stemmed, the wines fermented in concrete with gentle punch-downs before being sent to a wide variety of barrel sizes and shapes, none of which are less than a decade old. Bonneau disliked new oak as much as he did new grape clones or vines that exceeded 50 years of age. A traditionalist, you could say - the wines would remain in barrel until he felt they were ready; in fact, there is a rare, single-barrel bottling of Célestins that has only occurred twice - Cuvée Speciale - that he held back because the powerful wine took so long to ferment, and eventually still had a touch of residual sugar.
Célestins is sourced from La Crau, home to the famous galet-laden soils that produce the richest wines of Châteauneuf. About 90% Grenache, filled in with Mourvèdre, Syrah, Counoise and Vaccarese. There are typically only 2 wines per vintage, though sometimes the Célestins will be declassified as a normal Châteauneuf.
There are no secrets here, no tricks, just tradition to the finest, and having the ability to know just when a wine is perfectly ready.
