Francois Villard L’Appel Des Sereines 2021

Grape: Syrah

Region: Rhone Valley, France

Farming: Organic

François made his way to the wine industry much in the same manner as many, through restaurants. However, he began his career in restaurants as a chef before slowly migrating to the front of house to work as a sommelier. His love of wine grew very quickly and he came to realize that what he really wanted was to farm vineyards and produce wine of his own. Having no proper training wine wine production much of his knowledge has come from two of his good friends, Yves Cuilleron & Pierre Gaillard, with whom he has worked alongside. Early on in his career he accumulated a fair amount of attention and praise from the critics for both his Viognier wines from Condrieu as well as his Syrah’s. These early bottling were very much in line with the times, focused more on extraction of fruit and use of new oak that showcasing a riper, more rich style of wine. Over the years François has honed his style and the wines these days are far more restrained than they once were. His use of more whole clusters and less new oak in the red wines has brought a sense of grace to the wines.

Food Pairing: Perfect with roasted pork or duck, any vegetables from the grill and hearty stew.