Domaine La Bouïssiere, Côtes du Rhône

The key to elevating Côtes du Rhône from good to great is balance. Only the best producers are able to match the ample fruit and plush body Southern Rhône blends are famous for with a brilliant sense of tension and vivacity. The Faravel brothers behind Domaine la Bouïssiere pull off that rare trick deftly. When he founded the family winery in the 1960s, their father Antonin staked out vineyards higher than any other in the Gigondas appellation.  Now, with ever-warmer vintages, the Bouïssiere address is one of the few we look to for true elegance in the Southern Rhône. The vineyards that go into the Faravel’s Côtes du Rhône are technically in Beaumes-de-Venise, right next door to Gigondas, but the story is the same here. Elevations over 1,000 feet mean this cuvée hits the ripeness bullseye with shimmering, fresh fruits rather than the stewed or cooked aromatics/flavors we so often see down here.  When Antonin Faravel began planting his vineyard in 1963, he chose some of the most forbidd