MAYARD + CHARLIE HERRING 🚀

Source note: This post is adapted from Parched's September 24, 2026 newsletter

Heyy,

Ok, my last day in Italy. Don't cry 'cos it's over, smile 'cos it happened. Full report incoming soon!

Anyway, so much wine has landed whilst I've been out of the warehouse and it's been hard to keep up. Still… Can't believe I haven't shouted about my favourite Southern Rhône producer. We just received a pathetic allocation to see us through the year. Sucks but good to see plenty of demand for a region that often gets boxed into the bulk and/or boring category.

It's Domaine Mayard! Brothers Arthur and Hugo, 6th generation to work the land in and around Châteauneuf-du-Pape, have portioned off a bit of family land for a more radical project. Paysan vignerons with a real commitment to farming with respect. Agroforestry and cover crops are essential in retaining their healthy soils in this ever-warming section of France.

In the cellar, it's old-school and lo-fi. Tronconic wooden vessels, but mainly neutral cement, are preferred to show a purity of fruit, where most neighbours have pursued regimes of brash oak handling for decades. In their freshly restored, 17th-century underground cellar, they are part of the next wave of vignerons to take this famed region to the palates of the modern drinker. Ripe, clean fruit, spontaneously fermented, whole-bunch pressed to neutral vessels with a particular penchant for cement, bottled without any unnecessary chemistry.

Yea, these are wines that have material and concentration of flavour. Yet they do not sacrifice even an inch of drinkability or fluidity. How they manage the heat and the ripeness it brings is truly remarkable. If you taste, you'll understand. They are utterly compelling, sun-kissed and seductive. The fact we received 3 bottles of most of the cuvées speaks to their quality and their growing reputation. It's feverish in France, and it's clear that they're heading that way here too. So just take a look, you might only have one chance.

If you want to acquaint yourself with the house style, see the CdR. It's the humble appellation taken to wholly lofty new heights. A perfect drinking wine? One for all and every occasion. Its core of fruit is bright but brambly, there is savoury, garrigue-like herb flecked throughout, and a mineral quality that means you could mistake their entry-level bottling for the top wine of most regional producers. No oak, purity as per the house style. It's a very good start and priced keenly.

CdP is the flagship, obviously dialled up and concentrated beyond belief. At once leather-like but fresh as. It's got such fruit as a baby, but is obviously going to live for a very long time, only building in tertiary charm. I don't want to make comparisons, but there is an etherealness to these wines that I've only ever had from a certain Rayas. It's that good.

Some new releases too. We finally see some vin from their newly acquired plots down the road in Lirac. The Rouge is more briny and beautifully bitter, a herbal thing thanks to a large portion of Syrah. It's dark and deep in the glass but with a freshness that is practically unrivalled. Time to sizzle some sausages. Again, if I was to compare this to anything I've drunk before, it's the only other Lirac rouge I've liked, and that's been from L'Anglore.

Again, the Rosé is giving big croc energy! It's ripe but fresh. The flavour spectrum is wide. Citrus, watermelon rind and flesh, wild berries and this salty finish that keeps things tonic-like. It's a rosé with personality. It's not thin, nor pale, and it's all the better for it. It's the ultimate bistro wine, and something you can drink all year round. 3 bots.

Finally, the Blanc is a blend of Grenache Blanc 60%, Clairette 20%, Bourboulenc 20%. From steep, terraced vineyards in both Lirac and CdP, overlooking the Rhône itself. Whole-bunch pressed into barrel and then left to it. Golden and sunny from the Grenache, the Clairette adding a pop of acid, whilst the Bourboulenc adding a mysterious minerality. It's pretty serious.

ICYMI, we've gone pretty hard on the fizz in recent weeks too. Stroebel's two-faced, single-site fizzers. Two vintages, two grapes, two unrivalled bottles. Pretty rare too.

Speaking of rare, his elusive Coteaux might be one of the better Chardonnays I've ever tasted. Srsly. Iodine-like minerals and so much citrus and salt, 2022 was warm, so a still Champenois makes total sense.

Perseval single bottles left after the initial allocation went fast too!

Also in fizz closer to home, an allocation of the also highly elusive Charlie Herring BookKeeper. Tim Phillips makes some of the most curious wines from our isle, tucked in a walled vineyard in Lymington. Total quantities produced are pathetic and Tim never releases until things are harmonised. This dates back half a decade and is still so young. It's IYKYK.

Chardo. On lees for a whopping 68 months before being disgorged in February 2026, no dosage. A great vintage that gave full ripeness while keeping the ABV low. This is really pretty, not as showy or bombastic as some longer élevage champagnes, but more nuanced. The bubbles are fine and delicate, with gorgeous orchard fruit and a wonderfully gunflint, smoky nose. There's such tension and minerality here that make this very captivating. Tim describes this release as more arthouse than blockbuster, exactly what I search for in the glass. Save some for me.

Ciao, Fionn xoxoxo