RLK Source 2024 750ml

RLK, or Richard, Laurent, and Joan Kien is a trio of three friends who met in construction school in Grenoble. Located in Saint Andéol de Berg, Joan is at the helm of the domaine, and the man on the ground. Since 2022 they have been buying fruit from close contacts in the Ardeche, Limoux, and the Gard. Since 2025 they have their own vineyards of Syrah and Grenache Blanc. Despite the multiple sources in the domaine’s nascent stages, their resourceful work has always felt of the spirit of the Ardeche. RLK’s wines surprise me with just how drinkable they are in this classic Ardechois sense, and yet they don’t feel old school at all—quite the contrary. And while Joan and co. do everything through a real lens of purity, I find it is the trio’s loose ties to the contemporary art and architecture worlds

that bring these wines to the forefront of something new happening in the Ardeche, like an unexpectedly fresh southern gust of wind in the glass. A backbone of humor runs through both the cuvée names and the visual aesthetics of their labels (a whole cluster being psychoanalyzed on a couch)—some of which are from esteemed artist friends of theirs—and their wines, which are unbelievably sturdy, feel both grounded and free; that classic vin nature contradiction that we can’t get enough of. - CANTA