A match made in heaven
I searched high and low, and finally found The One.
Back when I started WineSpark, getting a good Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape on board was top of my list.
After kissing far too many frogs, I finally found my prince. And he's not quite your standard prince. A former rugby pro, divorced and remarried 3 times, and owner of what must be the best wine bar in France. We've got quite the southern French character on our hands.
Oh, and his wines are pretty special too.
Meet Olivier Hillaire - raised on a healthy diet of red wine and rugby
Olivier grew up on his parents’ Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyard, and started making wine aged 18.
He also played rugby for Grenoble and Bayonne - in the equivalent of the Top 14 back in the day. Although he told me there was ‘plus de bagarre que le rugby’ back then - more fightin’ than playin’.
He’s built like a bull, but played at inside centre. Which is exactly how you could describe his wines - strong, powerful, but with a lightness and deftness which is the signature of great Grenache wines.
Olivier loves sharing wine as much as making it
For years Olivier owned a popular boulangerie and restaurant in Châteauneuf-du-Pape called La Mule de Pape.
These days he runs Les Apéros de la Crau, an outdoor wine bar held every Friday and Saturday night in his vineyard over the summer.
He described it to me as this: you rock up, enjoy live music and drink unlimited wine, watch the sun set over the vineyards, and party into the night with 600 others. It’s booked out months in advance, and hugely popular amongst local rugby players and winemakers.
Look it up!
He’s very careful who he works with - somehow we got the call-up
I was introduced to Olivier by one of my trusty French contacts. Word clearly got back to France that WineSpark and its customers are good to deal with.
So we became the first new importer in ten years that Olivier took on. Ten years!
Olivier’s wines have landed in the UK, so I’ve mixed a 6-pack of some great Rhône bottles
With the Six Nations around the corner, this big French six has come at just the right time. In this discovery pack you’ll get…
- 2x Olivier Hillaire Côtes du Rhône Vieilles Vignes 2023 - a rich, juicy blend of Syrah and Grenache, farmed organically and made in exactly the same way as his Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- 1x Olivier Hillaire Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2024 - this is a blend of a few of Olivier’s favourite vineyards dotted around Châteauneuf - some are on sand, others on pebbles, and others on limestone. The average age of the vines is 85 years - you can taste the concentration, balance and complexity in every sip
- 1x Martinelle Ventoux 2022 - from a mountainous vineyard east of Gigondas and overlooked by the famous Mont Ventoux, this is a classic Rhône blend made by German-born winemaker Corinna Faravel, one of the region’s rising stars. This red is dark, lush and herbaceous and it has a lovely freshness to it too
- 1x Martinelle Beaumes-de-Venise 2023 - a show-stopping red from an area more famous for its fortified wines, this explosive Grenache and Syrah blend will remind you of a good Châteauneuf, at a fraction of the price
- 1x Clos Léopold Gigondas 2021 - from one of Gigondas’ highest vineyards on the slopes of the spectacular Dentelles mountains - this is more northern than southern Rhône in profile - full of white pepper, vibrant fruit and violets. So delicious!
Your membership unlocks access to these wines
This case is the perfect example of why I started WineSpark, and why I've now brought it to the UK.
- These are wines that you won't find anywhere else
- And you won't find better value for money either.
So if you enjoy discovering great wines early, and paying fair prices for them - this is the perfect place to start.