One of America’s Top Pinot Noir Makers Is Crafting Great Rhône Wines

Well known for his Pinot Noir from several sites in California, winemaker Adam Lee has struck gold again with his first wine from the Southern Rhône, Etienne. Pinot Noir lovers who may not know Lee by name surely know his wines: The co-founder of Siduri, he went on to launch Clarice Wine Company and was even tapped by renowned Chardonnay producer Rombauer to create its first Pinot Noirs. Lee and his partners named the wine in homage of Pope Innocent VI, nee Etienne Aubert, the 14^th century Avignon pope who is said to have preferred the wines of Lirac to those of the more famous Châteauneuf-de-Pape. Etienne Coronati, Lee’s reserve blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre is possible thanks to the knowledge and relationships Lee and his wife and business partner Morét Braelynn Chavez gained while working alongside influential Rhône winemaker Philippe Cambie, who passed away in 2021. Prior to Cambie’s death, they worked together on three vintages at Beau Marchais Winery in California, which produced Cambie’s first Pinot Noir.

Lee’s first foray into the Rhône and Rhône varieties, Etienne Essen is made in extremely small quantities, and Coronati’s total volume is even smaller: Just 2,400 bottles of Essen and 1,200 of Coronati were made from the 2023 harvest. While Essen is planned to be produced every year, Coronati is a reserve-level wine that will only be made in an exceptional season, and fortunately both 2023 and 2024 turned out to be incredible in Lirac. For a small project there is a big team on board; Lee and Chavez are working with Sasha Verhage and Simona and Jeff Paly. Verhage had partnered with Cambie and winemaker Justin Smith on Downstream Wines in Paso Robles. Simona Paly was Cambie’s assistant and is now a talented winemaker in her own right, and her husband (whose name is Jean-François but he goes by Jeff to make it easier for Americans) is a fifth-generation landowner and grape grower in Lirac.

Because Lee, Chavez, and Verhage are based in California, they rely on the Palys to keep them abreast of activity in the vineyard throughout the spring and summer. “Jeff and Simona are our hands, eyes, noses, and everything else on the ground,” Lee says. “We work incredibly closely with them throughout the growing season utilizing WhatsApp to send pictures, notes, lab reports, weather forecasts, and more.” He and Chavez take charge of winemaking and inform the Palys what they would like done in the vineyard to optimize ripeness. While Lee, Chavez, and Verhage take on different roles in communications, sales, website presence, customer service, and media relations, all five of them come together to taste and create the final Etienne blends.

Like many things that happen in the wine world, the project began in a violent storm. In the winter of 2023, Lee was driving through Paso Robles when road conditions became too dangerous to proceed, and he called Verhage, who invited him to come for dinner and stay until the storm passed. Over multiple bottles of wine from the Southern Rhône, the concept of Etienne was born, but not without a little dissent. Chavez was hoping that Lee would sleep the idea off and forget about it, as they were already stretched thin with their multiple winery projects. However, even as early as the first release, it seems things are going well. “As we undertook this project, we were careful all along the way and looked at each step with a bit of skepticism,” Lee says. “It turns out that, as Etienne progressed, each step of the way we said, ‘Hell yes, we want to do this!’”

While Lirac may seem like a strange place for a new Rhône project to plant its flag, it is well known to wine-world insiders for bottles that are every bit as good as but significantly less expensive than those from neighboring Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Immediately across the Rhône River from that more renowned appellation, it is planted to all the same grapes, including Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Lee points out that in recent years more than 35 wineries from CdP have begun making wine in Lirac. “We took their lead and believe that this was our opportunity to produce incredible wines that we love and elevate a region that we believe is truly world-class,” he says. “We feel that with some time and attention, Lirac can and will become known worldwide as a source of remarkable Rhône wines.”

One of the reasons that the partners believe Lirac has the potential to be known as a world-class region is its similarity to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, including the same four types of soils, including the galets roulés or rolled pebbles in the Paly family’s vineyards. “We laugh about these being called pebbles as many of them are larger than your head,” Lee jokes, and then explains that they act as a natural thermostat, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night, aiding the vines through maturity. This area of Lirac also benefits from an underlying layer of red clay that retains moisture and provides nutrients to the vines and from the famed Mistral wind, which helps to offset daytime heat during the growing season.

The 2023 season in the southern Rhône has been called a “Goldilocks vintage.” As Lee says, it was “not too hot, not too cold, with just the right amount of rain at the right time,” offering ideal conditions for balanced, expressive wines with steady ripening. While this helped to increase yields across the entire valley, the team worked closely with Jeff Paly to reduce crop load in Lirac, concentrating flavor and structure. “That precision in the vineyard and in the cellar is what took this vintage from ‘very good’ to truly compelling,” Lee explains.

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While Etienne Essen is Grenache dominant, Coronati is made with is 40 percent Grenache, 40 percent Syrah, and 20 percent Mourvèdre. “This gives the wine a deeper, darker, more earthy profile and a more age worthy tannic backbone,” Lee says and adds that the main difference between the two wines stems from the team’s blending and its commitment to only creating Coronati in vintages in which a reserve bottling is warranted. Deep violet in the glass, Etienne 2023 Coronati offers aromas of blackberry, clove, and wild mountainside herbs. It is full in the mouth, with luxurious tannins and flavors of purple plum, holiday baking spices, and dried thyme. A whiff of smoke carries into the ever so slightly chewy finish.

Lee admits that for all involved, making a Rhône wine without Cambie, the person who brought them all together, is a little bittersweet. “His insights on blending, his relentless pursuit of balance and beauty, and his passion for Rhône varietals continue to shape the way we think about wine,” he says. Lee also explains the story of the Coronati, or Four Crowned Holy Ones, a group of early Christian martyrs who collectively refused to renounce their faith. “The Coronati represent a harmonious whole, greater together than apart, which is exactly what we strive for in this wine. It’s a blend that honors the idea of synergy over singularity, and we hope it becomes the crowned jewel of each vintage in Lirac.” With a spectacular 2023 vintage ready to go and the 2024 on the way, we would say that this all-star team has hit that goal while avoiding the perils of martyrdom in the process.