Talk about snatching glorious victory from the jaws of defeat. There were times during the 2024 season that Hélène Thibon worried she would not make any wine at all. Through sheer resilience, Mas de Libian harvested a decent crop, and one full of promise. Several growers in France, including a couple we work with, were not so fortunate. Bertrand and Héloïse Gautherot at Champagne artisan Vouette et Sorbée couldn’t save any Pinot Noir at all; their story is one of many.“Twenty-twenty-four was THE most difficult vintage we’ve had in our careers!” Hélène told us. Fortunately, in today’s France, every challenging vintage has a silver lining. In 2024, that silver lining is vibrancy. Across France and Italy, earlier this year, we tasted young wine after young wine bursting with brightness and potential. We don’t know how the top cellaring wines will pan out, but we know that allocations will be small.What we can talk about is the early drinking wines, which are drop-dead delicious: perfumed, bright and crunchy with moderate alcohol and alluring drink-me-now personalities. And few come more soulful than the new releases from this biodynamic Ardèche star. The headline acts are the feel-good, vivacious Vin de Pétanque and joy-in-a-bottle Rosé. But if you ask us, all the wines from this wonderful grower are worthy of their own front page. Each shows the Ardèche’s vocation for elegance and clarity in its purest form. They taste, if you will, like a beauty spot on the cheek of the Southern Rhône. “Our heart is in wine, and for most of the time it works,” says Hélène. It works, Hélène; don’t worry about that!