Cros des Calades is a new project from Benoit and Florence of Château de la Selve in Ardèche, France. Both are farmed organically, and the wines are made naturally. Benoît, a charming fast-talker, is most at home in the vineyard waxing poetically in Franglais about this wild Ardechois terroir, arguably one of the least-tamed in France, a jumble of rolling hillsides and national parks featuring steep, swimmable river gorges where French adventure-seekers come for their summer holidays. In terms of wine, the Ardèche is akin to the Cotes du Rhone, but more fun. There’s far less pressure here to hit certain marks of ‘typicity’, so the region has fostered winemakers like Benoit and Florence who make something fundamentally new out of Grenache and Syrah. This Cuvee – named for the local name for a donkey – smells of strawberries and orange peel, dusty earth and sage and warm wind off the garrigue-crusted hills. The palate is bouncy and joyful, with raspberries and hood strawberries and orange zest and delicate tannins. This mouthwatering red is made for Turkey-centric feasts and good friends.