The tradition of winemaking in Stéphane Usseglio’s family goes back to his grandfather, Francis, who moved to Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Italy in 1931 and created what is now Domaine Pierre Usseglio. Stéphane’s father, Raymond, founded his own estate in 1964, and Stéphane took charge in 2004.
When a winemaker dares to defy the French wine 'rule book', it can spark some drama—and give birth to a great bargain like Stéphane Usseglio’s superb Les Amandiers Vin de France Blanc.
Richer than a Côtes-du-Rhône, this is a stunning value from a family whose name is synonymous with excellence in Châteauneuf, where they’ve been making top-tier wines for 75 years. This wine is crafted from 100% organically certified estate fruit—grown chiefly in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and family sites in Lirac and the Côtes-du-Rhône.
If the story ended there, this wine would qualify as a straightforward Côtes-du-Rhône. But winemaker Stéphane Usseglio went rogue by tapping one of the family’s plots outside the Côtes-du-Rhône and that’s why this bottle bears a vin de France label. And to throw off convention completely, the wine is not vintage-labeled, although 100% of it came from 2023.
This NV Vin de France is primarily declassified organic and biodynamic fruit from plots in and outside the classified Rhône appellations, and blends 40% grenache blanc, 20% roussane, 20% piquepoul, and 20% clairette blanche. It was pressed and fermented cool, in stainless. Perfumed peach, fragrant blossoms, jasmine, and honeysuckle roll along a slender, lightly waxen palate, with a lick of lemon verbena on the stony spiced finish.
