New Releases from Dard & Ribo
11/5/24 -
The wines of Dard & Ribo have evolved to become some of the most pure and delicious wines of the Northern Rhone, much sought after by lovers of natural wines. Quantities are tiny, of course, and we are glad to offer a lineup from the delicious 2022 vintage, along with the 2023 "C'est le Printemps."
For lovers of pure, balanced and elegant wines from the Northern Rhone, these bottlings from Dard & Ribo are sure to please. Though they can be categorized as "natural wines" due to the beyond organic farming and the low intervention winemaking, including no addition of sulfites, these are not defining characteristics of the wines. Their authenticity and purity help to put forth the argument that no bottle should be praised on the merits of how it is made, only by how it tastes.
As René-Jean Dard, of Dard & Ribo, explains: "I’ve been making sulfur-free wines since I was 15. I didn’t even know you could add sulfur to wine until going to oenology school! "You have to," they said! My dad never sulfured the wines and I basically just followed in his footsteps... A lot of people are hiding behind the word "natural" to escape criticism for their lack of serious work in the cellar. The wines are jam packed with volatility, they are muddled and murky; that's not wine. Just because you didn’t do anything to the wine doesn’t mean it's good. Making "natural" wine should not be a goal unto itself. It should be a tool to make qualitatively superior wine." (From interview with René-Jean Dard courtesy of Louis/Dressner Selections)
