Mont Thabor Illuminé Blanc Luberon 2023
Our beloved Mont Thabor is BACK! Any of you savvy Rhone Rangers that scored their 95-point Illuminé blanc last year already know – this is one of the BEST white blends you’ll find for UNDER $20…anywhere!
Leap, run, and FLY to load up on these beauties – you won’t find a better white Rhone blend from anyone – at anywhere near this PRICE! Impressive, high elevation vineyard in the Luberon, where Rhone workhorse grapes like Grenache Blanc and Vermentino thrive – all maintained and tended by the loveable Stehelin family. They’re certified Last Bottle LEGENDS for good reason, folks, one of our best ever finds for quality, value, and of course, the best mustache in the wine biz!
Now…Luberon is NOT Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I know…so pump those brakes, wine berserkers. But the grapes used, the overall climate, and the style here are what I’d call kissing cousins…not to mention that Mont Thabor’s primary focus is on CdP. We’ve been singing, nay, SCREAMING their praises at the top of our lungs for years…and the wines only get better every. Single. YEAR!!! This little wunderkind keeps the pace with CdP Blancs that go for 5 times the price – and just might be the head of the class for a white wine that can smoothly transition from warm weather BBQ’s and oysters by the bay, right into that warm and velvety white perfect to match with a steaming chicken pot pie in the dead of winter.
I mean…C’MON!!! We’re talking about way UNDER $20 for this!!! Mostly Grenache Blanc, with a healthy morsel of Vermentino – all grown at over 1,600 feet in elevation on sandy clay soils. The juice chills on the skins for a bit – pulling out that extra texture and complexity – and this has plenty of that and then some!!! Serve this cool, but not icy cold, and you’ll delight in the sensations of orange blossoms, ripe nectarines, with honeysuckle and acacia flowers, and plenty of tantalizing fruits and mineral accents. Salted plums, lime zest, crunchy river rocks, with some fresh notes of lemon verbena and tarragon. Way more complex than any under $20 white has a right to be – with this textural richness and an almost oily characteristic here, uplifted by a searingly bright acidity that keeps everything percolating into a long and crisp finish. I say AGAIN – This is one of the best Rhone whites you will ever see at this incredible price – and it competes with a whole slew of exorbitantly expensive Rhone whites that critics everywhere lose their collective minds over. Only SIXTEEN DOLLARS? Go get 'em, people!
** For those that don’t already know the Mont Thabor story – it was founded by the Illuminés d'Avignon sect in the 1600s (basically, a splinter cell of the Illuminati, in search of the mythical philosopher's stone), and named for a seedling tree brought from Israel's holy mountain. Mont Thabor passed through several hands before the Stehlins purchased the property in the 1880s. A few generations later, Daniel Stehlin and his fantastic mustache took over. His daughter, Fanny, joined the crew, alongside her husband, Vincent, who supplied these high-altitude vineyards in Luberon, just east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the heart of Provence. Some of the best people in the world, truly! **
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Mont Thabor Illuminé Blanc Luberon 2023
Our beloved Mont Thabor is BACK! Any of you savvy Rhone Rangers that scored their 95-point Illuminé blanc last year already know – this is one of the BEST white blends you’ll find for UNDER $20…anywhere!
Leap, run, and FLY to load up on these beauties – you won’t find a better white Rhone blend from anyone – at anywhere near this PRICE! Impressive, high elevation vineyard in the Luberon, where Rhone workhorse grapes like Grenache Blanc and Vermentino thrive – all maintained and tended by the loveable Stehelin family. They’re certified Last Bottle LEGENDS for good reason, folks, one of our best ever finds for quality, value, and of course, the best mustache in the wine biz!
Now…Luberon is NOT Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I know…so pump those brakes, wine berserkers. But the grapes used, the overall climate, and the style here are what I’d call kissing cousins…not to mention that Mont Thabor’s primary focus is on CdP. We’ve been singing, nay, SCREAMING their praises at the top of our lungs for years…and the wines only get better every. Single. YEAR!!! This little wunderkind keeps the pace with CdP Blancs that go for 5 times the price – and just might be the head of the class for a white wine that can smoothly transition from warm weather BBQ’s and oysters by the bay, right into that warm and velvety white perfect to match with a steaming chicken pot pie in the dead of winter.
I mean…C’MON!!! We’re talking about way UNDER $20 for this!!! Mostly Grenache Blanc, with a healthy morsel of Vermentino – all grown at over 1,600 feet in elevation on sandy clay soils. The juice chills on the skins for a bit – pulling out that extra texture and complexity – and this has plenty of that and then some!!! Serve this cool, but not icy cold, and you’ll delight in the sensations of orange blossoms, ripe nectarines, with honeysuckle and acacia flowers, and plenty of tantalizing fruits and mineral accents. Salted plums, lime zest, crunchy river rocks, with some fresh notes of lemon verbena and tarragon. Way more complex than any under $20 white has a right to be – with this textural richness and an almost oily characteristic here, uplifted by a searingly bright acidity that keeps everything percolating into a long and crisp finish. I say AGAIN – This is one of the best Rhone whites you will ever see at this incredible price – and it competes with a whole slew of exorbitantly expensive Rhone whites that critics everywhere lose their collective minds over. Only SIXTEEN DOLLARS? Go get 'em, people!
** For those that don’t already know the Mont Thabor story – it was founded by the Illuminés d'Avignon sect in the 1600s (basically, a splinter cell of the Illuminati, in search of the mythical philosopher's stone), and named for a seedling tree brought from Israel's holy mountain. Mont Thabor passed through several hands before the Stehlins purchased the property in the 1880s. A few generations later, Daniel Stehlin and his fantastic mustache took over. His daughter, Fanny, joined the crew, alongside her husband, Vincent, who supplied these high-altitude vineyards in Luberon, just east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the heart of Provence. Some of the best people in the world, truly! **
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Our beloved Mont Thabor is BACK! Any of you savvy Rhone Rangers that scored their 95-point Illuminé blanc last year already know – this is one of the BEST white blends you’ll find for UNDER $20…anywhere!
Leap, run, and FLY to load up on these beauties – you won’t find a better white Rhone blend from anyone – at anywhere near this PRICE! Impressive, high elevation vineyard in the Luberon, where Rhone workhorse grapes like Grenache Blanc and Vermentino thrive – all maintained and tended by the loveable Stehelin family. They’re certified Last Bottle LEGENDS for good reason, folks, one of our best ever finds for quality, value, and of course, the best mustache in the wine biz!
Now…Luberon is NOT Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I know…so pump those brakes, wine berserkers. But the grapes used, the overall climate, and the style here are what I’d call kissing cousins…not to mention that Mont Thabor’s primary focus is on CdP. We’ve been singing, nay, SCREAMING their praises at the top of our lungs for years…and the wines only get better every. Single. YEAR!!! This little wunderkind keeps the pace with CdP Blancs that go for 5 times the price – and just might be the head of the class for a white wine that can smoothly transition from warm weather BBQ’s and oysters by the bay, right into that warm and velvety white perfect to match with a steaming chicken pot pie in the dead of winter.
I mean…C’MON!!! We’re talking about way UNDER $20 for this!!! Mostly Grenache Blanc, with a healthy morsel of Vermentino – all grown at over 1,600 feet in elevation on sandy clay soils. The juice chills on the skins for a bit – pulling out that extra texture and complexity – and this has plenty of that and then some!!! Serve this cool, but not icy cold, and you’ll delight in the sensations of orange blossoms, ripe nectarines, with honeysuckle and acacia flowers, and plenty of tantalizing fruits and mineral accents. Salted plums, lime zest, crunchy river rocks, with some fresh notes of lemon verbena and tarragon. Way more complex than any under $20 white has a right to be – with this textural richness and an almost oily characteristic here, uplifted by a searingly bright acidity that keeps everything percolating into a long and crisp finish. I say AGAIN – This is one of the best Rhone whites you will ever see at this incredible price – and it competes with a whole slew of exorbitantly expensive Rhone whites that critics everywhere lose their collective minds over. Only SIXTEEN DOLLARS? Go get 'em, people!
** For those that don’t already know the Mont Thabor story – it was founded by the Illuminés d'Avignon sect in the 1600s (basically, a splinter cell of the Illuminati, in search of the mythical philosopher's stone), and named for a seedling tree brought from Israel's holy mountain. Mont Thabor passed through several hands before the Stehlins purchased the property in the 1880s. A few generations later, Daniel Stehlin and his fantastic mustache took over. His daughter, Fanny, joined the crew, alongside her husband, Vincent, who supplied these high-altitude vineyards in Luberon, just east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the heart of Provence. Some of the best people in the world, truly! **
