There are serious wines, with starched collars. They want to talk about tannins and geology and twelve generations of winemaking. There are playful wines that are transparent and fresh and speak to the aromas of flowers and the sensation of sunlight. Then there are wines like this one from Chateau de la Selve that only ask where the party is at! This is Cinsault, Grenache and Syrah grown in biodynamically tended vineyards in Ardeche, where winemakers are allowed to dream and play more than in the Rhone or even Languedoc, the Petite Selve lets us in on the secret when it calls itself “a UFO in the Rhone region” that “cultivates the paradoxes.” It is “Light without being thin” and “Complex without being complicated.” We honestly can’t remember the last time we tasted a wine so purely joyful. It smells like the scooped out filling of a Fruits of the Forest pie, like blackberries and blueberries and strawberries and raspberries all mushed together in a pan with a tablespoon of orange juice and a sprig of tarragon. It's a picnic on a hot day and the kids are playing in the mud. It’s an antique pepper shaker in the shape of a strawberry at grandma’s house. On the palate this wine is a pie eating contest in a savory herb garden, but for all its juicy, delicious palate staining heft, the Petite Selve is anything but heavy. There’s acidity enough in here to keep all these red and blue berries and oranges and fresh flowers aloft all the way through the finish; a rich, warm, herb-crusted finish.