2020 Chateau L’Ermite D’Auzan 750 ml

To grasp Château l’Ermite d’Auzan’s level of commitment, look no further than the still. 

Proprietor Tanguy Castillon is so all-in on biodynamic farming that he took the extraordinary step of purchasing a copper still just to prepare his own essential oils to spray in the vineyard. It’s a radical nod to quality that we’d expect to see at a Goliath-like Château de Beaucastel—whose $80+ Châteauneuf-du-Papes have been biodynamic since 1974—not at a small winery in the humble Costières de Nîmes. 

Yet those are the lengths to which Castillon goes for his wine, and his fervor shows in the 2020 Château l’Ermite d’Auzan. It’s a flabbergastingly good red that shows how an obsession with quality pays off in the glass.

Castillon, the latest in four generations of his family to make wine in the Rhône Valley, is on a mission to make wine as in tune with nature as possible—so much so that France’s National Institute of Agricultural Research is funding studies on the effectiveness of his essential oils against diseases of the vine.

The Castillon family farms 18 different plant species on-site for their biodynamic herbal teas and decoctions. All these preparations allow them to forego chemicals. They use only indigenous yeasts and have been certified organic since the 2020 vintage. Given their dedication, biodynamic certification is certainly not far behind.

The mistral wind coming to the area from the north and the cooling breezes of the Mediterranean moved Wine Spectator to call this wine “very fresh, with an unadulterated beam of cassis and plum puree flavors.” We’d call it a pitch-perfect pairing for roast leg of lamb with garlic and herbes de Provence.