Roger Ravoireis not unusual – he is a Frenchman with a passion for wine. He makes red, white and rose at Ravoire et Fils but that passion drives him further still.
But what singles him out from his fellow countrymen is that he also seeks it out at small producers ranging from the Cotes de Provence to the Cotes du Rhone and, when he likes it, he bottles it and puts the good Ravoire name on the case. That mark of quality means the small producer can then tap into Ravoire’s marketing expertise and the wines can be offered to a wider audience.
For the consumer it means we get a decent bottle of wine from any one of hundreds of quality producers, covering an area half the size of Kent, with real character and personality at a price we are all happy to pay in these day s of austerity.
The 09 vintage is a case in point. Roger selected two wines local to his home at the foot of the Luberon Massif, at the crossroads of the Rhône Valley and Provence, to enter the latest Decanter Magazine tasting.
The Olivier Ravoire Cairanne took four stars and the Olivier Ravoire Plan de Dieu was awarded three. But both Cotes du Rhone-Villages wines have that certain je ne sais quoi.
Ravoire said: ‘They are excellent examples of what we can achieve in Provence. The wines were produced just eight kilometres apart and they are totally different. That’s because the terroir and the producer are different.
‘It’s important to me that the identity of each wine grower is preserved. I hope that the quality and competitive price of these wines will help to pull people away from low quality supermarket wine. I work hard to find these wines and it’s very exciting when you come across a small vintage that really delivers that we can sell at a good price for our customers.’
The two award-winning wines, and the rest of Roger Ravoire’s range, are now being exclusively stocked in the UK by Maison du Vin, the niche wine merchant perched halfway up Moor Hill in the beautiful village of Hawkhurst in Kent.
Managing director John Toogood is a big fan of Ravoire’s. John said: ‘These are easy-to-drink wines that are great value. We’re so confident you’ll enjoy them that we’re offering a money-back guarantee if you don’t like them.
‘We believe that wine should always give 100 per cent satisfaction but these Rhone wines really are superb and go with any type of food.’
All of the Ravoir range of superb wines are exclusively available from Maison du Vin
