François Villard L’Appel Des Sereines

This is Northern Rhone Syrah without the paperwork. Francois Villard trained as a chef, taught himself to make wine, and became one of the region's best; l'Appel des Sereines is his young-vine cuvee, drawn from decomposed-granite parcels in Chavanay, Ardoix, Saint-Michel-sur-Rhone and Verin — real Northern Rhone dirt in every case. Because the vines are young and the plots fall outside the appellation lines, it's bottled simply as Vin de France, which is precisely why it's such a good deal on flavor. Twelve days on the skins with a quarter whole clusters, then eleven months split between tank and neutral barrel. Violets, blackberry and cracked pepper; supple and fleshy rather than brooding.