A meaty Syrah based red with intense, heady aromas of black fruit, pepper and earth. How can a wine so delicious, complex, and layered cost less than $30?! Many factors go into the quality and price of a bottle of wine. Let's begin with quality: Fond Cypres considers quality at ever step of the process from soil to cellar. Low impact farming, handwork, experience in natural winemaking, and no additives permitted. This approach yields a wine of abundant positive attributes. When it comes to price, the affordability of this wine compared to other French wines such as Cote-Rotie or Hermitage, is kind of mind blowing. A top Syrah based wine from the Rhone is $100-$300 dollars!
So why then does Cypres de Toi Rouge, which is equally delicious, complex, and age worthy cost 80 percent less?! Without getting into the weeds, let's focus on two of the main factors: cost of land and perceived luxury. Buying land in the region where Fond Cypres makes wine is relatively cheap so there is no need to build those extra costs into the price of the bottle of wine. A mere handful of acres of Grand Cru Burgundy or Hermitage can be sold at a price equivalent to a water front property on Lake Como. The big name, more globally recognized regions of France such as Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux, and the Northern Rhone are often viewed as luxury products and have branded their wines over the past handful of decades in that category of product. Consumers have responded and are now willing to spend $300 on a bottle of Pinot or Syrah that objectively is not better than the $27 bottle of soulful red wine from Fond Cypres. So, if perceived luxury means nothing to you then your wine choices are clearly a no brainer. Gimme a case of this wine anyday over a mere bottle of overpriced, merely passable and uninspiring bottle of Volnay Taillepieds which rarely meets the expectations it sets with such a gargantuan price tag.
Laetitia Ourliac & Rodolphe Gianesini the couple behind Fond Cyprès are good natured, salt of the earth people. People who love baby kittens and welcome you into their home with delicious home cooking curated from local ingredients.
Gimme some saucisson sec, a baguette and a cool glass of this wine and I'll be over the moon.
