Chateau Fontanes Pic Saint-Loup Rouge 2020

Press 4 Mix/Red • February/March 2026 Direct Press Selection

I've always had a soft-spot for wines from Pic Saint-Loup, a small appellation in France's Languedoc. Just a week or so into my first wine shop job, a customer returned a bottle of a Pic Saint-Loup because it was off. My boss diplomatically sussed out that it was too rustic for their tastes but suggested I try it. I was enthralled with it's slightly feral, rustic charms and it was possibly the gateway drug for me and natural wine. I wish I could remember the exact producer (this happened in 2007, gasp) but this wine from Cyriaque Rozier is a strong contender, as he is the winemaker at both Chateau La Roque and his personal project Chateau Fontanes, long imported by Kermit Lynch. Cyriaque ends up working 16-hour days between the two estates; working Biodynamically and taking no shortcuts surely doesn't help. 

This 2016 version of his red is a real treat, as  you get to experience the way his full-bodied wines are built to age, deepening in complexity and gravitas. It is a blend of 40% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 10% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, grown on extremely rocky limestone soils that used to be home to olive trees. Cyriaque has to do extensive work to prevent erosion, including building stone terraces. Though he works Biodynamically these wines are not funky, just honest and transparent vehicles to express the warm climate, high elevation, and rocky terrain of Pic St Loup. It's a robust wine with beautiful, bright floral top notes poking through the layers of cherry, sage, and olive skin. Brown butter, fig, tomato umami, and stony, earthy tannins. With its restrained energy and power and layers of flavor and texture, it is a fantastic and soulful wine of substance. Jonathan Kemp