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Domaine la Remejeanne

High Country Côtes du Rhônes Brimming with Fruit and Freshness

For a population of fewer than 2,000 people, Sabran sure has a lot of churches—six in total. Fortunately for us, this god-fearing village has another claim to fame; it’s home to one of the southern Rhône’s most progressive growers. La Réméjeanne is situated amid the oak-forested hills and rocky vineyards of Sabran, in the Rhône’s Gard department. Before the godsend of satellite navigation, the Domaine would take some tracking down. Despite that, it has always been one of those places that are “worth a special journey”, as the Michelin Guide would put it. 

All the Réméjeanne vines are certified organic and sit at high altitudes between 200 and 280 meters. Here, the cooler climate and limestone-rich soils endow the wines with a freshness and refinement that is not typical of this AOC. Working alongside his pioneering father, Rémy Klein, the young Olivier Klein continues to drive quality at this address skywards. Klein junior seems to have inherited the best traits of both his parents—the strong will of his mother and his father’s famously open-minded approach to winemaking.

This great country—with the Rhône proper in your rear-view mirror and the foothills of the Cevennes ahead—is also home to one of the Southern Rhône’s most outstanding, progressive growers

Winegrowing in these rocky hills is a tough business, yet not only does Klein put in the long hours, but he also does so with a smile on his face. All the grapes are hand-harvested, then undergo long, slow fermentations with indigenous yeasts before aging in concrete or older wood. Extractions and sulphur additions (if used at all) are kept to the bare minimum. Olivier Klein follows the great growers of the north as much as he does his southern counterparts and likes his reds with a bit of crunch. He, therefore, ensures he doesn’t pick too late and prefers an infusion-over-extraction approach to his winemaking.  

These are wines that proudly speak of their place—high up in the hills with soils comprised of sand and limestone. This highly distinctive terroir results in a range of fresh, highly refined Côtes du Rhônes brimming with fruit and character. They are far cooler and purer than many of the Côtes du Rhônes produced at lower altitudes and on alluvial soils. This stylistic difference suits us right down to the ground.

Currently Available

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2021

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2021

Certified organic. A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah from a single plot of old vines called Arbousiers—the name referencing a native fruit tree that abounds in central France. The poise and finesse of this finely balanced wine are far removed from the weighty tannins and high extraction levels that characterise many old-vine Rhône blends. At 320 metres, Réméjeanne can get perfectly ripe Grenache and Syrah while retaining the energy and refreshing acidity we seldom see in the southern Rhône.  Naturally fermented and raised (without sulphur) in both concrete tank and large oak casks, this lively and sweetly perfumed bottling is emblematic of the quality Olivier Klein is achieving in both vineyard and cellar. From a significantly fresher vintage than those on either side, the ’21 is saturated with buoyant, lacy floral and red fruits. It exudes gluggable croquant charm, as Olivier puts it, courtesy of the combination of lithe tannins and great acidity. It’s another exciting and effortlessly poised Côtes du Rhône from this domaine. 

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2021
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Un Air de Réméjeanne 2023

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Un Air de Réméjeanne 2023

Certified organic. 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. All the fruit for Olivier Klein’s killer-value entry-level Côtes du Rhône grows on the estate’s highland, sandy limestone vineyards set around the hamlet of Sabran. Olivier aims for a vin de soif with this wine—juicy, floating fruit and sweetly floral perfumes. To this end, following a five-day cold soak, the wines spend only a brief time on skins, seldom more than a week, and Olivier also incorporates a more significant number of whole bunches (50% this year) in his ferments for more lift and buoyant, bunchy structure. Aged in concrete and bottled within a year of harvest, it’s a vibrant and perfumed Grenache-led Côtes du Rhône oozing pristine red-berry fruit, a jubey palate and a crisply refreshing close. Dee-light-ful. A lighter tread than the ’22 and more lifted, too, it is already singing with the perfume and charm of the best virtues of high-country Grenache. 

“The nose offers an aroma of soaked blackberries, Morello cherry, lardon-pork, is neatly sweet, sits quite well. The palate presents joli fruit off the bat, is in the zone, with cosy, fluid gras, mild tannins within. The fruit ticks over nicely.”
John Livingstone-Learmonth, Drink Rhône
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Un Air de Réméjeanne 2023
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc 2023

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc 2023

Certified organic. Chèvrefeuilles (pronounced ‘shev-ruh-foy’) is French for honeysuckle, the perfume of which you cannot escape during springtime in the Southern Rhône. Olivier is a sucker for the character and freshness of old-vine Clairette, which now accounts for half the blend in his delightful citrus- and white-plum-scented Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc, with the remainder made up of 25% Roussanne and 25% Grenache Blanc. The fruit grows on the domaine’s cooler, east-facing sites, where limestone helps to preserve freshness. The fruit is pressed as bunches and ferments on heavy solids with natural yeasts. The wine rests on fine lees in concrete for eight months before bottling. The style is succulently mouth-filling with pulpy orchard-fruit texture, hawthorn blossom and citrus flavours balanced by lip-smacking salty minerality (from the Clairette) and a vibrant, juicy close. Terrific value. 

“The nose has a gentle peach aroma, honeysuckle indeed after the wine’s name, with a hint of smoke. The palate is charming from the off, holds squeezy and cosy white fruits with tender progress along the palate, the finale curved.”
John Livingstone-Learmonth, Drink Rhône
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc 2023
Domaine la Réméjeanne Vin de France La Bulle 2021

Domaine la Réméjeanne Vin de France La Bulle 2021

Certified organic. There are not many things Olivier Klein does not do very, very well, as this surprising and delicious sparkling Rhône attests. In just its second release, Réméjeanne’s new sparkling wine is a blend of Clairette (50%), Roussanne (25%), and Grenache Blanc (25%), drawn from the domaine’s cooler, east-facing sites. The fruit for the base wines is pressed as whole bunches and ferments with natural yeasts before resting on its fine lees in concrete for six months before bottling. Following the “prise de mousse”, the wine spends a year on its cork before disgorgement. The dosage this year is 3.2 g/L. Disgorged in April 2023, it’s a supremely lithe and vinous sparkling wine redolent of white flowers and stone fruits, with a creamy yet impeccably fresh palate dotted with hazelnut skin and chamomile complexity. Frankly, it blew us away with its stylish and assured personality and rippling length of flavour. Not cheap, but it’s worth every cent.

Domaine la Réméjeanne Vin de France La Bulle 2021
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2022

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2022

Certified organic. A blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah from a single plot of old vines called Arbousiers—the name referencing a native fruit tree that abounds in central France. The poise and finesse of this finely balanced wine are far removed from the weighty tannins and high extraction levels that characterise many old-vine Rhône blends. At 320 metres, Réméjeanne can get perfectly ripe Grenache and Syrah while retaining the energy and refreshing acidity we seldom see in the Southern Rhône.  Naturally fermented and raised (without sulphur) in both concrete tank (Syrah) and large oak casks (Grenache), this lively and sweetly perfumed bottling is emblematic of the quality Olivier Klein is achieving in both vineyard and cellar. Crafted with 70% whole bunches and bottled unfiltered, it exudes the vivid, perfumed appeal of the Rhône high country, with silky waves of burlat cherry, sweet spice and black raspberry fruit tethered by lithe tannins and great acidity. It’s another exciting and effortlessly poised Côtes du Rhône from this domaine. 

“The bouquet proffers a nicely serious aroma, red cherry with designs of skating along, notions of black olives. The palate links well, flows with authority, and offers crunch, late grip and interest from the tannins. This is good table-friendly Côtes red, extends on a little chalkiness, has character.”
John Livingstone-Learmonth, Drink Rhône
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Arbousiers Rouge 2022
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Rouge 2022

Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Rouge 2022

Certified organic. This blend comes from hillside vines facing south and east with an average altitude of 250 metres, grown on loess/limestone soils. A combination of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan, as well as some Marselan (from some old vines of a rarely seen crossing Olivier Klein likes for the acidity it brings to the blend), this is perhaps the spiciest Réméjeanne wine we ship. The grapes are sorted and mostly destemmed before natural fermentation in concrete tanks. The Carignan grapes, however, undergo carbonic maceration. There is little or no sulphur used during vinification, and the wine then spends a year in concrete before bottling. Named after the honeysuckle tree, it’s a supple and airy southern Rhône with notes of mulberry, garrigue and cracked peppercorn, sinewy, gliding tannins—typical of the limestone-rich soils of Sabran—and a long, vibrantly perfumed finish. Olivier Klein describes the 2022 vintage as a beautiful year for the domaine’s reds, and the depth of the vintage is perfectly balanced by the wine’s evocatively bright and succulent close. As always, it offers terrific class and bang for the money.

“The nose is reserved, shows blackberry with a hint of licorice. The palate gives a strike of raspberry, mulberry, works well on the attack, and retains the fruit into a little menthol clarity on the close. It has some structure – ça passe, is good for steaks etc, has local tones, is a genuine, bright Côtes red.”
John Livingstone-Learmonth, Drink Rhône
Domaine la Réméjeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Rouge 2022
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AT-A-GLANCE

• Domaine la Réméjeanne is a family-run estate in Sabran on the right bank of the Southern Rhône.

• Third-generation vigneron Olivier Klein manages it alongside his visionary father, Rémy.

• Farming is organic, the soils are rich in loess, sand and limestone, and elevation ranges from 200-320 metres.

• The fruit is picked for freshness, and Olivier favours long, slow fermentations with gentle extractions and maturation in concrete or old wood.

• The range includes an impressive sparkling, easy-drinking entry-level red and a range of blended and single-site white and red Côtes-du-Rhône wines.

• The style is one of refinement, purity, freshness and finesse.

• Réméjeanne’s entry-level red is available in magnum.



IN THE PRESS

“With a remarkable love of a job well done, Rémy Klein has shown over many years the potential of the terroir on the left bank of the Rhône.” Bettane & Desseauve, Le Grand Guide des Vins de France, 2009

“Klein laughingly dismisses the suggestion that he adheres to a winemaking philosophy. It occurs to me that this makes him, perhaps, the best kind of winemaker: committed, yet completely open-minded.” Beverley Blanning MW, Decanter

“No one ever paid much attention to the wines of the out-of-the-way village of Sabran – until a careful, thoughtful winemaker like Rémy Klein came along.” Andrew Jefford, The New France

“Proprietor Rémy Klein is one of the most consistently top-flight winemakers among the Côtes du Rhône producers.” Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

Country

France

Primary Region

Southern Rhône

People

Winemakers: Olivier & Rémy Klein

Availability

National

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