Château Grand Escalion Safranée 2018 (Rhône) - Wine Review

For tonight's red wine review, I dive into my cellar for this delicious, mainly Syrah blend from the Costières de Nîmes appellation in the Southern Rhône Valley. I purchased it nearly six years ago when it made its debut at the LCBO in the January 23, 2021 VINTAGES Release, with the catalogue tasting note suggesting it was best enjoyed by 2025.

Château Grand Escalion is located in the commune of Générac, south of the Roman city of Nîmes. The estate dates back to 1884 and has been managed by Maison Gabriel Meffre since 2002. Its 40 hectares of vineyards are divided into three parcels – Amoureuse, Safranée, and Romane – all surrounding the estate and extending across gentle slopes. The Château takes its name from the Provençal word "Escalion", meaning "ascent".

This red wine was crafted using a blend of 80% Syrah, 10% Grenache, and 10% Mourvèdre, with the grapes selected from a 4-hectare parcel within the Safranée plot. The vineyard sits on Villafranchian quartzitic pebbles deposited by the Rhône River, while the Grenache and Mourvèdre vines occupy limono-clayey hillsides and the Syrah grows in red clay soils. This terroir produces small, well-ventilated grape bunches, helping to ensure good sanitary conditions. The grapes were harvested beginning September 11th, then destemmed and placed directly into tanks without crushing. The wine underwent a four-week maceration with daily pump-overs to favour the diffusion of tannins and gentle concentration. Mainly unoaked, only 25% of the cuvée was matured for 10 months in French oak barrels.

The 2018 growing season in the Southern Rhône was widely known as the "mildew year", with persistent rainfall during a very warm May and a lack of mistral winds to dry the vines. The first half of June was also particularly wet, while the second half turned extremely hot and dry. Yields were significantly reduced, with Grenache particularly susceptible to mildew. Despite the challenging growing conditions, the resulting red wines were generally of good quality, producing supple, velvety wines with relatively low acidity.

Let's see how this 2018 Costières de Nîmes red, crafted mainly with Syrah, is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

CHÂTEAU GRAND ESCALION SAFRANÉE 2018 - Vegan, AP Costières de Nîmes, Rhône, France (#18141) (XD) - $14.95
Enclosed by synthetic cork, this blend of 80% Syrah, 10% Grenache, and 10% Mourvèdre has an open, medium-high intensity nose of mature, savoury, roasted herbs, earthy, and smoked meat aromas flecked with hints of dried blackberry, dried spice, and violet. It is mid-weighted with good concentration and delicious, mature flavours of savoury wet earth, roasted herbs, and dried spice flavours with touches of mushroom, smoked meat, dried blackberry & floral, and plum adding interest and complexity. It has crisp and juicy acidity, along with smooth, supple, and refined tannins that have matured nicely. Slightly chalky mouthfeel on the mid-palate, as well as some palate warmth, but still pleasantly balanced. Earthy, roasted herbs, and dried spices with touches of dried black fruit linger on the finish, with very good length. It has aged quite nicely and is a joy to sip! Score: 89 pts

A newer vintage of this wine is not currently available at the LCBO, but it tends to appear in January, so we may see this wine early next year.