It was way back in 2017 when we first visited Yann Menager at his tiny stone winery in Champailler, a twisty 20-minute drive up into the hills above the Rhône river. Here in the shadow of the Trois Dentsmountains (three teeth, in the background above), he thoroughly impressed us with his small lineup of deftly crafted wines. And we signed him up on the spot!

Fast forward to today and we’ve just received our eighth vintage of Domaine de la Roche Paradis wines from the excellent 2022 vintage. And it is looking to be Yann’s best set of wines yet. He’s still farming the same 6.5 hectares of carefully selected sites in Condrieu, Saint-Joseph and Côte-Rôtie. And he’s still assembling them from just a handful of barrels. But the 2022s display an extra dimension of finesse and pinpoint balance that reveals a winemaker working in perfect harmony with his vineyards.