2015 Rotem & Mounir Saouma Chateauneuf-du-Pape 'Arioso' Rhone 750 ml

We didn’t even think we had a shot at an allocation of this incredible Châteauneuf-du-Pape rarity. A mere 35 cases were imported to the U.S. of Rotem & Mounir’s gorgeously lifted 2015 Arioso, a love song to Pignan terroir that elicited a stunning 98-point review from Wine Spectator.

But when the winery saw how Wine Access members reacted in January to their superb Châteauneuf-du-Pape Omnia bottling, resulting in a sell-out, we were able to wrestle a coveted allocation of Arioso that dozens of retailers were vying for. This is an extraordinary single-vineyard collectible that belongs in the cellar of any collector, evocative of the legendary Château Rayas releases of the 1980s. True to it’s operatic moniker, it’s a Châteauneuf-du-Pape both ethereal and profound, exuberant and weighty.

Everything lined up to put this tiny-production cuvée out of reach for the typical wine drinker. The lilting black cherry and wild raspberry perfumes and silky, old-vine density bewitched the critics, surrounding this bottle with hype. After tasting this release, we understand the critic frenzy— this bottle delivers on every ounce of build-up the critics heaped upon the Arioso:

Jeb Dunnuck called it “the Chambolle-Musigny of the Rhône Valley,” a release “up with the top wines of the vintage.” Vinous’s 97-point paragraph of praise confirmed winemaker Mounir Saouma’s status as a bona fide Rhône star with a refined Burgundian touch.    

Saouma has been called “one of the most original thinkers working in French wine today” by Decanter, and the Arioso represents his deepest roots in the Rhône Valley. The grapes hail from a five-acre plot of 90-year-old vines in the hallowed area of Pignan, adjacent to some of Rayas’ most famous vineyards.

He bought the land, which had been neglected, in an estate sale and laboriously revitalized and tended it by hand. He re-drained and replanted the soil, a rocky, sandy mix ideal for lending elegance and complexity. Planted to 100% Grenache, the grapes are raked by the cool Mistral wind while seeing ideal exposure, guaranteeing maturity while maintaining exquisite freshness.

Yields are hardly more than a ton per acre, filled with a vigor and concentration that is due to both old-vine pedigree and meticulous farming. In the cellar, Mounir seeks “extreme purity,” influenced by Rhône stalwarts and Burgundy, where he first established a micro-négociant in the 1990s. His élevages sometimes last as long as 60 months, leaving the wines unsulphured and unracked on the lees.

Aged three years in large barrels, this has the heft and rugged power of old-school Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but dances on the palate with modern freshness and energy. In the hands of a master like Mounir, there’s nothing else quite like it.