Originally from Greece, Georges Lelektsoglou has long since been settled in the Rhone Valley. A job in sourcing bulk wine led him to discover the wealth of great terroirs and old vines in the area. In 1983, he made a series of personal selections of wines to celebrate the birth of his first son – and enjoyed the exercise so much that by 1988, he had opened his own cellar. He releases small quantities of extremely well-sourced, well-made personal cuvees. He was a distributor of Chateau Rayas when he landed upon a tiny plot of 100-year-old Grenache vines very close to the Rayas vineyards, in the exceptional Pignan lieu-dit of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and has worked it ever since. His philosophy as a winemaker involves working with single parcels, minimising the number of varieties in the blend and ageing the wines in a manner he considers respectful to their provenance. When he’s not in the cellar, you will find him in his treasure-trove of a wine shop near Tain l’Hermitage. (NT 04/10/23)