2020 is our first vintage to make white and it’s a lovely expression of a favourite native grape, Clairette showing the mineral, floral, fruit aromatic quality. Through our long-nourished connections in the region, we were able to work with some old vine Grenache Noir from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Clairette from just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape, belonging to one of our longest-standing collaborators and friends, a legend in his own right in Châteauneuf. He farms this Clairette just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape – organically, as with all his vines. We bottled it unfiltered so there’s a deposit which can turn the wine cloudy if shaken; it’s nothing but natural goodness, you might even find more flavour when shaken.

The fruit comes from 2 hectares of poor, stony, clay-limestone soils, on a low lying plateau around 120m altitude just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape as well as a mosaic of soils in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The vines are aged between 40 and 100 year old, which are farmed organically.

The winemaking is simple: The fruit is very gently pressed by pneumatic press direct to inox tank to ferment dry which takes 2 weeks. We use natural yeasts and control the temperature to around 15-17º for a gentle and pure expression of fruit. There are no additions or manipulations except a touch of sulfites on the harvest and after malo, which is left to happen naturally, soon after the alcoholic fermentation. After the malo the wine is racked and moved to age in concrete for 4 months. It’s bottled without fining or filtration so there will be a light deposit.

The wine was bottled on 19 January 2021, a fruit day in the lunar calendar. We made just 4000 bottles.

Alcohol 13.5%
SO2 Total 56 mg/L