Chêne Bleu judged worthy of top Rhône Peers - October 2009

Jean-Louis, Olivier & I waited with baited breath as impartial judges graded our wines (Abélard, Héloïse & Aliot) blindly in a line up of similarly priced Rhône classics that included some of our idols such as Rayas, Beaucastel, Vieux Telegraph. Lots of gasps as we came in first or second in all three categories. No resting on laurels of course, but it was really exciting to hold our ground in the Big League. I sorely need these occasional shots in the arm to keep going through this intensity-fraught start-up period.