Dard & Ribo

Renè Jean Dard and François Ribo are based in Mercurol, a small village near Tain l’hermitage, in the northern part of the Rhône, an area of Syrah and Voigner. The couple formed in the early 1980s by buying a hectare of vineyard. In 1984 their first vintage was released and today they are the most acclaimed producers in wine bars of natural wines in France and Japan. Renè and Francois cultivate eight hectares of vineyards spread across seven villages in the Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph and Hermitage areas. All the vineyards are planted with Syrah and the native white grape variety Roussanin. They are managed under a biodynamic regime with a total avoidance of chemistry and the use of only copper and sulphur. In the cellar, after manual and selected harvesting, 90% of the bunches are destemmed, while the remainder is not destemmed to encourage fermentation, which is spontaneous without selected yeasts, maceration varies depending on the vintage but usually lasts between 10 and 20 days, no temperature control, and ageing is carried out in medium-small barrels. No sulphur dioxide is used throughout the vinification process. The wines of Renè Jean Dard and François Ribo are elegant, deep, natural, respectful of the terroir of origin and above all great drinking.