Black tea, tomato leaf and a pleasant hint of struck match show first on the nose ahead of cherry and fig. Raspberry suckers, ripe blackberries and a forest floor porcini define the palate, while the finish is flinty, tense and grippy. A structure that promises long ageing potential.

Gentle and minimum intervention with a “hands-off” approach to show the delicate and elegant side of this grape. After handpicking in the early morning, bunches were destemmed into small fermenting tanks with 30% whole clusters. Four days of cold soaking on skins for colour and flavour to develop before a natural fermentation started. Punch downs were done by hand, twice a day, resulting in gentle extraction, preserving the grape’s natural character. After a slow and steady fermentation, an additional post-fermentation maceration of 10 days was allowed to extract the finer, softer tannins. After a total of 4 weeks on the skins, grapes were gently pressed with an old basket press into old Foudre for malolactic fermentation and maturation. 12 months in foudre and no fining. Bottled in August 2023.

ANALYSIS: ALC 12.5% | RS 1.4 g/l | TA 6.1 g/l | pH 3.26