Gramenon’s La Papesse is one of the domaine’s most serious and age-worthy wines, sourced from a prized parcel of 50–70-year-old Grenache on a high, rocky limestone plateau in Vinsobres. Elevation and poor soils naturally limit yields, producing fruit of depth, structure and intensity.
The nose is dark and expansive, with blackberry, violet and pot-pourri, while the palate arrives with weight and concentration. Tightly coiled, it shows deep, brooding fruit, minerality and firm but finely knit tannins with a line of vibrant acidity. A deep, complex and powerful wine with with no shortage of elegance, this will reward careful cellaring.
Michèle Aubéry-Laurent and her son Maxime run Domaine Gramenon in Montbrison-sur-Lez, in the northern Rhône, producing some of the region’s most acclaimed natural wines. Michèle, a former nurse, brought the same care and conviction to the vineyard that she once gave her patients, stepping up to lead the estate after her husband Philippe’s tragic death in 1999. Today she and Maxime work 26 hectares of old and young vines, farming organically and biodynamically, while embracing a non-interventionist approach in the cellar. Using gravity-fed tanks, oak demi-muids and foudres, and bottling with minimal sulfur, the Laurents produce clean and precise wines of startling freshness and intensity. They are highly sought-after by lovers of the Rhône and natural wines alike.
