La Ferme Du Mont Clos Bellane 2012

Mario Cagnetta rated this wine as 88/100 with the following review:

Elegant, complex with floral notes, with a good acidity to balance the alcohol. This wine made with 100% Roussanne a typical grape from Savoie, Provence and Cotes Du Rhone and is a true gem. This is the real expression of Stephane Vedeau, the brilliant and talented La Ferme Du Mont third generation winemaker from Cotes du Rhone.
Visual examination: at the first sight the wine appears straw to golden yellow and crystal clear. The consistency, due to 14% abv is strong with many legs surrounding the glass after swirling.
Olfactory examination: Intense and complex, this is a fine quality wine that expresses notes of cooked apples, dried apricots, hazelnuts, sap and bee’s wax.
Taste-olfactory examination: dry wine with warm alcoholicity, La Ferme Du Mont Clos Bellane 2012 is very smooth and balanced by a freshness given by the prominent acidity. Very good wine, intense and persistent in the aftertaste, full bodied and ready to drink. 88 points very deserved

Alex & Priya rated this wine as 89/100 with the following review:

Priya: Super, super seductive wine...smells familiar to gewurtztraminer - like unripe lychee with a wee bit of funk in the aroma. However, it isn't too funky to be a turnoff (for me)! Coats our mouth and doesn't let you leave! 86 pts

Alex: Well done Priya, the Gewurtz resemblance is from the aroma of botrytis mold, common with gewurtz, reminiscent of overripe apricot, marmalade and mushroom! Lychee there as well, with beeswax, nutmeg and butter tones. Simply gorgeous, and packed with richness and density, and indeed dry on the finish! Acidity is a little fleeting as expected, but this is a gloriously unique drop that no one would ever call blind as Roussanne. I would pick this up without a second thought for ~$30 - should a mortal ever even see it again! 91 pts

Mymi Thesingingsommelier rated this wine as 86/100 with the following review:

So what would it take for Stéphane Vedeau, the owner and winemaker at ‘La Ferme Du Mont’ in the Southern part of Les Côtes du Rhône to even be interested in purchasing a piece of land to add to his vineyard collection? In his words, he is “terroir-attracted” and looks for fresh minerality in the soil.
Not only do you find that fresh minerality in the wines that he carefully crafts but you also taste the land and that natural harmonious balance that he skillfully maintains through the winemaking process. His wines are all organic products, free of chemicals and pesticides, the fertilizers are organic in nature and he even uses ambient or natural yeasts to ferment the wines.
This wine is something rarely seen in Ontario, it is comprised of 100% Roussanne. The varietal itself is relatively unknown in this part of the world but is definitely worth a try!
Stéphane uses 3 different clones of Roussanne and they are co-planted together in one of his coolest and most acidic, (soil wise) vineyards. The grapes are harvested together while one varietal is under-ripe, the second, ripe and the third, botrytised. This results in a completely unique wine that you must try but only if you can find it! Since Stéphane only has 3 hectares devoted to Roussanne, he only makes about 7 thousand bottles of this particular wine each year!
In the glass, it is a light and bright yellow.
On the nose, there is a hint of melted butter, dried apricots, caramel and a little vegetal note.
On the palate, it seductively coats every part of the mouth. It is dry with some residual sugar, orange zest, dried apricot and nutmeg.
Deliciously unusual!