When you first meet Lionel Faury, it’s easy to mistake him for a gentle giant. At 6’5”, with a linebacker’s frame, he is soft-spoken, humble, and good-humored. Beneath Lionel’s modesty and affability, however, lies an intensity he brings to the job—and sport—he loves. He has won ten Joutes Nautiques, the French championship of water jousting (Google it!). Lionel is equally, if not more, successful in his day job as one of the northern Rhône’s great vignerons. What links the two? “Passion,” he says.
     Lionel represents the third generation of his family to grow grapes and make wine around Chavanay, south of Lyon. After the Second World War, his grandfather planted vines and orchards, to make wine and sell fresh fruit. When Lionel’s father Philippe took over, he replaced the fruit trees with more vines and dedicated the entire family business to wine production, crafting top-notch northern Rhône reds and whites.
     Today, Lionel runs the domaine, and continues to take it to soaring heights. Preserving freshness and acidity in the face of warmer vintages is one of his primary goals, and he achieves this masterfully by keeping more leaves on the vines—thereby providing more shade to the grapes—as well as pursuing shorter macerations and more whole-cluster fermentation than the domaine used to. He’s also thinking about how to retain more moisture and less heat in his soils.
     It helps that his northern corner of the appellation is known for its bright, fragrant, mineral, and elegant Syrahs, underscoring the alignment of terroir with Lionel’s years-long quest for finesse. Showcasing notes of black pepper, tart fruit, spring flowers, and a touch of brine, this is old-school Saint-Joseph at its finest.