Ligiere, Domaine La

To taste the wines of Philippe Bernard with the man himself is to experience a shocking contrast. His wines are among the most elegant, balanced and pretty of the entire Rhone Valley, while the man himself, a former rugby player, is large, broad, muscular and looks like he could break your legs with little effort. This makes sense when you learn that Philippe, having grown up during the age of “Parker wines” with their sweet tannins, jammy fruit and high alcohol, did not like that modern style of wine. With his more refined, traditional palate, he followed his preferences and studied winemaking in Burgundy, where subtlety and balance are the focus.

For wines from the Mediterranean to be not only rich, but also delicate, it takes precise farming and intimate knowledge of every parcel. Philippe, like his father and grandfather before him, all conscientiously farmed this same land but sold their grapes to the local cooperative. In 2008 Philippe and his father built a winery that would allow him to quit selling off their precious harvest and make wine that showed what incredible produce they had been growing. These are the wines of a master vigneron, farmed with love and produced with an uncommon focus on prettiness.