Revived: August 23, 2026 (Published: April 13, 2017)

The highlight of our winter trip to Northern Rhône? Meeting Cornas icon Thierry Allemand, who also led us to Le Mangevins restaurant. In between, we attended the Marché aux Vins d’Ampuis tasting.

Well before this January 2017 trip, I had contacted some top winemakers that we were drooling to meet. One of them was, of course, Thierry Allemand, the legend of Cornas, the southernmost appellation of Northern Rhône.

My fellow travellers – devoted Rhônephiles Mikko & Ilkka – and I had slight doubts about whether Allemand would answer us let alone invite us to his winery. But within a day, Thierry’s wife Emmanuelle replied to me, warmly welcoming us to Cornas.

After reading that Bienvenue! mail, I immediately called Ilkka. An SMS would never have been enough to tell him that his Rhône Dream would come true.

THIERRY ALLEMAND, THE WIZARD BEHIND STELLAR SYRAH WINES

The mere thought of meeting one of the greatest Syrah makers in person gave me chills, too. Since my first curious steps into the world of wine around 2003/2004, I have been very fond of Syrah wines from Northern Rhône.

Having started with Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage (many of which were delightfully priced those days), nowadays I’m increasingly drawn to Cornas and Saint-Joseph appellations.

The Syrahs from Cornas, in particular, appeal to me for their strikingly peppery character. I use freshly ground black pepper generously in my kitchen, so perhaps it’s no coincidence that I have a soft spot for Cornas wines?

And you just can’t think about Cornas without Thierry Allemand! The man who built his domaine from scratch, gradually buying and planting small pieces of vineyards. From the first 0.26-hectare vineyard he acquired in early 1980s, he has grown his holdings to 5 hectares.

CHAILLOT & REYNARD, WHAT A DUO!

Approaching Cornas, I feel ambivalent, knowing that the visit will be demanding for me, as I am the only one of us who speaks any French.

As we enter the Allemand winery, there are three other visitors. Thierry is not at home. Emmanuelle Allemand says he is on the vineyards, showing them to Argentine winemakers.

With Thierry still on the vines, we start the tasting with Chaillot 2014. From a cool vintage, this 100 % Syrah is a vivid and fresh, wonderfully peppery wine that reminds me more of red berries than dark berries so typical of Northern Rhône. My beloved tapenade vibe is there too. So are nicely gripping, fine-grained tannins. The aftertaste – and ageing potential – is immense.

Suddenly, in the middle of whirling and sniffing, Thierry steps in with the Argentinians. He starts to open bottles here and there, smiling and asking if we want to taste “this or that?”.

A unanimous “yes, please!” echoes in the cellar.

While we sip these aged-in-old-oak Cornas beauties, I think about elegance and how we people perceive it. For me, at times, an “elegant” wine can be something that is technically so well-made and so flawless that it becomes… boring.

Sought-after Syrah bottlings of Thierry Allemand are a whole different ballgame. They are dazzling manifestations of perfectly energetic, beautifully robust elegance.

Their strength is not in the powerful, full-bodied structure and overtly fruity taste but rather in vibrancy, finesse, wonderful tannic structure and crazy length. Formidable Reynard 2014 feels even greater than already stunning Chaillot from same vintage, with even more nuances and complexity. Though it is still a baby. I toy with the idea how this wine would taste at its peak?

As his third wine, Thierry makes SO²-free Reynard Sans Souffre. Only 2,000 bottles per year, and not every year. Compared to its slightly sulphured (minimum SO²-addition upon bottling) counterpart, this version of Reynard seems brighter, juicier and earlier approachable. Makes sense as sulphur tends to prolong the lifespan of the wine.

TASTING OLDER VINTAGES

Sighing over the brilliance of Chaillot and Reynard 2014, we taste next super charming and lively yet still surprisingly youthful Chaillot 2012 and smoky-spicy, pretty monumental Chaillot 2010. Sheer bliss! I am numb. We all are.

The plot thickens as we continue with the graciously dense Chaillot 2005 which is about to show the signs of age while its still-gripping, fine-grained tannins beguile me. Longevity is clearly a key dimension in Allemand’s red wines.

After that, Thierry Allemand serves us a blind. My guess is 1996, Mikko is in 2001. It turns out to be Reynard 1998. Even though the wine has nearly 20 years behind it, it feels so youthful that I decide to cellar my Reynard for a long time and be very picky who to share it with.

SHINY HAPPY WINE PEOPLE

Our visit has been so full of fab surprises that I feel like pinching myself. I also realise it’s not every day that one gets to buy Thierry Allemand’s wines.

While I purchase a bottle of each 2014 wine, Mikko decides to go for Reynard 2014 Magnum, for his 2-year-old son. I kindly ask Allemand to sign that bottle for the little chap. “Avec plaisir!”, he exclaims.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Mikko as happy.

Once the Argentinians are gone, we stay for a while and feel really cosy despite the partial language barrier. Thierry Allemand does not seem busy at all, so I finally dare to give him a box of Finnish ginger liquorice, which clearly delights him.

“I love ginger so much”, he whispers.

As we are leaving for lunch, Thierry and Emmanuel recommend us Le Mangevins in Tain l’Hermitage. We are happy to give it a go, and it turns out to be spot-on, as you can read from the next chapter.

Thinking back now, three months later writing this piece, I will always remember the Allemand couple and their lovely black Labrador who was as enthusiastic about the tasting as we were.

LE MANGEVINS – FOOD & WINE HEAVEN IN TAIN L’HERMITAGE

One of the greatest Syrahs of my life was also enjoyed during this Rhône trip of ours. Marc Sorrel‘s Hermitage Le Gréal 2011 was so good that it brought tears to my eyes at the restaurant table.

First, I feel slightly ashamed of my strong reaction. But looking at my fellow travellers, I realise the Sorrel moment has struck them too.

Yet our emotions are not only provoked by Le Gréal. The entire restaurant, Le Mangevins, seduces us. In the heart of Tain, it’s a wonderful spot for anyone who loves wine and creative cooking.

Run by a lovely couple, Keiko Yamada plays with Japanese cooking techniques and French top-notch ingredients while her husband Vincent Dollat takes care of us just as dedicatedly and warmly as a great sommelier can. As we ponder on which vintage of Le Gréal to order, he proposes 2011, stating it would be perfectly enjoyable already.

PERFECT WINE MOMENTS

And oh boy, it is. Sorrel’s Le Gréal 2011 oozes lilacs, rose petals, yummy fruit, tea leaves, bitter almond, jasmine, liquorice root and freshly ground black pepper. My skin goes goose bumps even before we taste. That’s why tasting scares the hell out of me. Sometimes a wine can offer such a nose that you know there is no way the taste could ever equal it.

But this time it can. There are so many layers on the palate that it’s impossible to distinguish them. Classic black pepper feel followed by sophisticated reddish berries and beautifully integrated oak. Lingering, silky finish that you wish would never end. Irresistible potpourri of aromas and flavours escorts beautifully delicious veal with broccoli.

In fact, we are so convinced of Le Mangevins that we book another lunch for the following day.

This lunch also follows the red theme, from another appellation, St-Joseph. Jean-Claude Marsanne‘s unfiltered Saint-Joseph 2013 is made of grapes from 60-to-100-year-old Syrah vines and fermented with wild yeasts. Displaying perky aromas of red cherries, violets and spices, it is a perfectly light and vivid lunch wine.

The wine list of Le Mangevins is so full of wonderful discoveries and vintages from top domaines that I recommend this restaurant for anyone with a serious crush on Rhône wines.

To my surprise, our second lunch has a perfect ending as well. As an aesthetic by nature, I can’t keep my eyes off the adjoining table, and a smiling guy with fluffy, toast-coloured hair.

While he prepares coffee installations for the owners of Le Mangevins and invites us to taste, it turns out that he is the owner of Le Richer, my Monday restaurant in Paris last summer! This is what I love in France: although the country is big, you often end up chatting to people who are somehow linked to something you had experienced before.

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Le Mangevins
7 Rue des Herbes (Tain L’Hermitage)
By booking only: Mon-Thu start between 12:15–13 or 19:30–20:15, Fri lunch only 12–13
3-course menu: 45 € –> no à la carte!

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WHERE TO BUY WINE IN TAIN?

After the lunch, it is time to buy wine! Compagnie de l’Hermitage is an old-school wine boutique with a huge selection. Packed with wine from floor to ceiling, this shop is a blast from the past, with an excellent array of local wines.

When you enter, make sure you have time as it takes a while for the owner to warm up. But once Georges Lelektsoglou is ready, you get brilliant, detailed information on local wines. He also bottles interesting Côte-Rôtie red wine under his own label, Lelektsoglou & Fils, since the 1980s.

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Compagnie de l’Hermitage / Le Grec
7 Place du Taurobole
Mon-Fri 9–12:30, 14–19:30, Sat 10–12:30, 14–19:30

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TWO TASTING DAYS AT MARCHÉ AUX VINS d’AMPUIS

Our original reason to travel to Northern Rhône was the Marché aux Vins d’Ampuis tasting event. Based on two days at this annual 4-day event, the general level of the wines is high. Also, it’s refreshing to blend among the locals, many of whom come to Ampuis to buy bottles for the rest of the year.

At the event, Gilles Barge impressed me with his characterful, stylishly powerful and firm Côte Brune 2013 while Jean-Michel Stephan’s natural Côte-Rôtie 2015 did the trick as always.

Pierre Gaillard, in turn, offered stunning value with perfectly peppery 20 € Saint-Joseph. Of the whites, Yves Gangloff‘s Condrieu enchanted with amazing freshness and depth of the fruit.

Still, there was one family winery that really grabbed my attention: Clusel-Roch. Tasting their wines for the first time, I did not have any pre-expectations. When their entire range turned out fabulous, I had to buy a bottle of (already very enjoyable!) Côte-Rôtie Classique 2007 to take home.

To be honest, I was also charmed by the austere looks of Guillaume Clusel. But ranking this domaine as my number one was not based on girlie infatuation as my fellow travellers also ranked Clusel-Roch as their #1 of the event.

The Gangloff stand was so popular that we just got to taste tiny drops of two wines as they had already run out of the third one. No wonder; this domaine truly knows how to make Viognier shine like a star. And by “shining” I mean vibrant, deliciously fresh and brightly fruity white wines that are a far cry from those fat, way-too-spicy Viogniers lacking in acidity.

Of the Condrieus, I would also pick a talented young vigneron Xavier Gérard who makes nice wine on his steep Côte Châtillon plot just above the town of Condrieu. His other wines are also well worth trying, and his Côte-Rôtie is a star for the money you pay.

Beside the Condrieus we taste at the event, it’s white St-Josephs that surprise us. Delicious, affordable quality stuff across the exhibitors! Why oh why didn’t I take a bigger suitcase with me?

In the evening the venue gets crowded, so it makes sense to arrive early. If you come just for drinking and socialising, no problem, but if you wish to chat with the winemakers, avoid the evening hours.

After the event we take the final walk on steep Côte-Rôtie hills. January mist has swallowed the most breathtaking views, but instead of complaining about it and the minus degrees, we marvel at the vineyards that look extremely beautiful in a notorious way.

 

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UPDATE (2026): Getting a visit to Domaine Thierry Allemand is not easy, and the market prices of his wines have increased since 2017. If you want to dig deeper into Northern Rhône, I highly recommend Marché aux Vins d’Ampuis. This tasting event is open for everyone and shall be arranged for the 98th time in upcoming January. To expand your horizon, I also recommend delving to the wine list of Le Mangevins: based on my 2021 dinner + the lunch my fellow travellers had in 2025, this restaurant still rocks. And for wine purchases, Lelektsoglou’s sons are happy to help you at Compagnie de l’Hermitage.