{"title":"Cellar List","description":"\u003cp\u003eEverything we have in stock, from the shelves at 3 Cornmarket Street and our bonded warehouse in Little Island. All of it comes direct from small growers we know and visit, mostly in France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"3-orange-2021-domaine-pierre-weber","title":"3 Orange 2021 - Domaine Pierre Weber","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe limestone of Eichberg tempers Gewurztraminer's natural exuberance into something more linear and finely detailed than the variety usually delivers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e spiced pork belly, or a washed-rind cheese like Munster.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGewurztraminer from the Grand Cru Eichberg in Husseren-les-Châteaux, macerated on skins for nine days, then pressed and aged for nine months in old bordelaise barrels. Vinified without additives, no sulphur, no fining, no filtration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePierre Weber grew up at the foot of three ruined medieval towers above Husseren-les-Châteaux, the highest village on the Alsace wine route, where his grandfather farmed vines and worked as a vigneron at Kuentz Bas. Pierre left: a Brevet de Technicien Supérieur in electrotechnology, then studies in renewable energy and urban planning, then five years developing Paris's climate action plan. After that he bought a van and drove the Silk Road. He came back to Husseren during the 2018 harvest, into the smell of fermenting juice from the cellars below the village, and did not leave again. He trained at the wine school in Rouffach and did internships with Valentin Zusslin in Orschwihr and at La Grange de l'Oncle Charles. His first vintage was 2019; 800 bottles of Riesling. The estate is around three hectares of calcareous marl and sandstone at 378 metres, split across several parcels including plots on the Grand Cru Eichberg, vines planted between 1962 and 2003. Biodynamic farming, certified Bio and Demeter since 2021. The cellar is built into the hillside; everything works by gravity, vertical press to barrel. Indigenous yeasts, nothing added, nothing removed, nothing filtered. He doesn't put Grand Cru on the labels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHusseren-les-Châteaux sits in the Vosges foothills southwest of Colmar, at the southern end of the Alsace wine route. Eichberg is one of fifty-one Alsace Grands Crus, a south-facing site at the top of the slope above the village, calcareous marl over limestone bedrock. The continental climate is moderated by the Vosges rain shadow, which makes Alsace one of the driest pockets in France. Gewurztraminer on this kind of limestone produces wines with more structure and less exotic-fruit flamboyance than the variety can give on heavier soils. Pierre's bottlings are part of a small but growing group of Alsace winemakers working without additives in a region that, until recently, was almost entirely conventional and reductive in style.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Husseren-les-Châteaux, Alsace, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Pierre Weber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988699861330,"sku":"22\/004012","price":41.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-3-orange-2021-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"3-orange-2023-domaine-pierre-weber","title":"3 Orange 2023 - Domaine Pierre Weber","description":"\u003cp\u003eGewurztraminer from the Grand Cru Eichberg in Husseren-les-Châteaux, macerated on skins for nine days, then pressed and aged for nine months in old bordelaise barrels. The limestone of Eichberg tempers Gewurz's natural exuberance into something more linear and finely detailed than the variety usually delivers, and Pierre’s delicate approach in the cellar preserves the aromatic majesty of the variety, while managing to retain sapidity and mineral drenched structure that is quite something.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePierre returned to his grandfather's estate in Husseren-les-Châteaux in 2018, leaving life as an environmental engineer in Paris behind when the yearning to return home to the vines could be ignored no longer. The estate covers four hectares on the hills of Husseren-les-Chateaux, with a hectare on the Grand Cru Eichberg. Most of the vines were planted between 1960 and 1970, and sit at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of Alsace, giving Pierre's wines their unmistakable cool freshness. Pierre's work in the vines draws on the influence of his grandfather and his father, the oenologist Jacques Weber, and he takes the effort and expense of having his work certified Bio and Demeter. Working from his meticulously kept cellar, Pierre’s wines are among the very best coming out of Alsace with their definitive character - mountain wine freshness and the ripe core of Alsace grown fruit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollow the routes de vins d’Alsace south from Colmar, through Eguisheim, and the you’ll find Hussren-les-chateaux in your sight. It’s commanding hillside position sits at the foot of the Stauffen massif, below the three hilltop castles for which the village is named. This position in significant, these are the highest vineyards in Alsace, at about 350masl, with views all the way across to the Black forest on a clear day. The village is today home to a thriving and progressive winemaking movement. The microclimate here distinguishes the villages wines from elsewhere in Alsace, particularly the Pinot Noir which is well suited to the cooler nights of these elevated hillsides. The limestone of Eichberg shines in Pierres wines, bringing a chiselled detail and fine structure that keeps the fruit feeling fresh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gewurztraminer\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Husseren-les-Châteaux, Alsace, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Pierre Weber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701237586,"sku":"25\/000243","price":49.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-3-orange-2021-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"a-freux-2023-la-sorga","title":"A freux 2023 - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003eNose of pear, roast juices and apricot. The palate is all elegance, with sweet spices, mineral, lightly tannic, long and of great complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e roast chicken with tarragon, or pork chops with apricots.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e50% Grenache (blanc, gris et noir, 21 years) from Antony’s own vines on villafranchien at Aspiran, this year with 50% Mauzac (33 years) on poudingues at Castelreng in the Haute Vallée de Limoux.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost years A freux comes from Antony’s small holding of vines in Aspiran, but this year, due to a dearth of acidity, he decided to add Mauzac from the grower he works with in Castelreng. The combination of the two terroirs gives added body and length to this cuvée, we get the fleshy concentration of the low yielding Grenache, struggling on the hot villafranchien terraces of Aspiran, and the open, elevated vines of Castelreng, where poudingues soils and cooler conditions give wines that belie their southern provenance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Grenache Gris\/Blanc\/Noir, Mauzac\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701401426,"sku":"25\/000938","price":39.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-a-freux-2023-la-sorga.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"adam-2021-cantina-giardino","title":"Adam 2021 - Cantina Giardino","description":"\u003cp\u003eA commanding varietal expression, the structure of tannins, minerality, and acidity feels almost tendinous. Aromas of Earl Grey, dried lavender, and dulse-like mineral freshness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e roast pork with fennel, or an aged hard cheese like Pecorino.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGreco planted in 1936 from the Chianzano vineyard in Montemarano, at approximately 500 metres above sea level. Just 5 days skin contact imbued this concentrated juice with a deep amber colour, accented by 15 months in Acacia barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDaniela and Antonio di Gruttola began making wine as Cantina Giardino with a group of friends at the turn of the millennium. Natives of the Irpinian hills, it was the encroachment of mechanised viticulture and the uprooting of the region's ancient vineyards that compelled the couple to radically alter the course of their lives and dedicate themselves to the preservation of the ampelographic artefacts growing in the vineyards of Avellino, and the intuitive winemaking and crop husbandry techniques that, over many generations, had adapted to this remote, rugged wilderness. Based in Ariano Irpino, in the saddle of the Apennines and at just under 800 metres elevation, the winters are cold and the summers short, with harsh winds blowing from the north and from the Adriatic coast. The landscape is dramatic, defined by mountain ridges and undulating hills, with a diverse geological complexion that can be explored through the Cantina's eclectic portfolio of wines, from their own holdings or from grapes bought from neighbours and friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning as a project among friends aiming to cultivate biodiversity between the vines, train their vines in the old way, and working without additions or filtration at the cellar, they had few, if any, peers in Campania in the early years, confirming the significance and timeliness of their work. In the decades since, their wines have become a benchmark for the timeless and evocative wines of Irpinia. Anyone who has experienced the enchanting pleasures of old vine aglianico like Le Fole, or the heady potency of fiano in, say, Tu tu will immediately understand why. Today, the original group remain active in the project, but Daniela and Antonio make the wines and drive the project forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMontemarano, at the south-east of the Avellino province, is known primarily for Taurasi, and the region's ancient red variety Aglianico. Greco planted here in 1936 is historically significant both for its age and its location, predating the postwar rationalisation of the Italian wine industry, surviving the planting of productive international varieties and the shift to denominazione blending that squeezed out most of the indigenous plantings. Vines from this era, selected for over generations, thrive in these elevated conditions and poor soils, yielding concentration and a mineral precision that have become all too rare in these hills.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Greco\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ariano Irpino, Campania, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cantina Giardino","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701499730,"sku":"25\/002154","price":42.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-adam-2021.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"bianco-2025-samodia","title":"Bianco 2025 - Samodia","description":"\u003cp\u003eA wine that delivers far beyond its humble presentation as a vino da tavola, this is brimming with personality and charm, channelling the ancient traditions of the valley with its sylvan complexity on the nose and mineral density in the mouth. A thread of bitterness on the finish adds gusto and class.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e tortellini in brodo, or mortadella with warm flatbread.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom three parcels of old vines growing at the top of the valley, about 500 metres above sea level, where these vines were planted almost a century ago. All the fruit was pressed into concrete, where it fermented and aged over winter as a single mass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSamodia is a collaborative winemaking project founded by Jacopo Stigliano and Flavio Restani, both born and reared where their project is based, Valsamoggia, a valley in the foothills of the Apennines in Emilia-Romagna. Samodia is the old Latin name for the valley, a historical reference that tells the story of what these inspired friends aim to achieve through their work. Existing at the frontier between Bologna and Modena, the valley is a melting pot for the viticultural traditions of the wider region, preserving in its vineyards a tether to Valsamoggia’s viticultural past. Taking inspiration from the old masters of the region, Antonio Ognibene, Giorgio Erioli and Vittorio Graziano, Samodia represents a passing of the baton of sorts, carrying the gestures developed over millennia in both the vineyards and the cellar, forward into the next generation. The first vintage for Samodia was in 2023, when the pair rented three hectares of vines at the top of the valley, between 400 and 500 metres above sea level, on the limestone and clay soils that predominate here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir idea is to produce three wines each year, a red, white and sparkling. In this approach they oppose the commodification of wine and the faddish forces that shape contemporary wine discourse. They make vino per tutti, made the old way, using the old techniques inherited from the generations gone by. With many of these old vineyards being uprooted and replanted with tillage, or simply abandoned, their work is vital to the preservation of this valley's identity in the face of encroaching homogenisation and urbanity. Producing just 13,000 to 20,000 bottles a year, these are among the most rewarding wines we've tasted in recent years. They are wines for any occasion, as intended.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSamodia is the old Latin name for Valsamoggia, which is itself named for the Samoggia river that runs down through the Apennines between Bologna and Modena. The old vines that grow here follow the Emilian tradition of mixed farming, with fruit trees and several varieties all planted on one site. Up here, at the top of the valley, the temperatures allow for slower ripening than below, helping to preserve acidity in this warm climate. Valsamoggia's position at the border between Bologna and Modena is described by the varieties planted here, particularly the trebbiano vines. Trebbiano was used in medieval times to describe vigorous varieties, about the only characteristic these two share. Trebbiano Modenese is known for its edgy acidity, often used in the production of balsamic vinegar. Trebbiano Romagnolo is a true workhorse with a relatively neutral profile, used most commonly in sparkling wines or easy drinking whites. They form part of the architecture for this wine, framing grapes like Albana, considered the great golden grape of Romagna with its almond and stone fruit register, Montuni with its soft citrus, and pignoletto's almond skin bitterness. So much history in one bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pignoletto, Albana, Montuni, Trebbiano Romagnolo, Trebbiano Modenese, Moscato\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valsamoggia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Samodia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701565266,"sku":"170181","price":26.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-samodia-bianco-2025-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"blan-5-7-2022-jordi-llorens","title":"Blan 5.7 2022 - Jordi Llorens","description":"\u003cp\u003eHerbal-toned aromas on the nose, with peach, citrus zest and ginger biscuit. We have a breadth of fruit that was not present in the 2021, while the delicate sylvan bitterness of the parellada adds subtle complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e grilled prawns with garlic and chilli, or a mild Thai green curry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom vines planted in 1990, this is 5 parts Macabeu and 7 parts Parellada, as the name suggests. Both varieties ferment on the skins for 6 days before ageing in amphora over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJordi Llorens is an eighth-generation farmer at his family's estate in Blancafort, with paperwork showing that their family have been here since 1779. It is a quiet municipi on the southern slope of the Serra del Tallat, in the central part of the Conca de Barberà. The family has always farmed organically, growing their vines as part of a wider polycultural system that included fruit trees, nut trees, olive groves, and livestock. Up until Jordi returned home to take over from his father in 2007, the family sold their grapes to the local co-operative, as was the conventional practice at the time.\u003cbr\u003eSeeking a deeper understanding of his family's work, Jordi completed a degree in Geology before returning home. These academic underpinnings complemented the intuitive methods his family had followed over generations, to the extent that his old friend Manel Aviñó of Clos Lentiscus once advised me that nobody understood the terrain of these hills like Jordi. Because the family had farmed in the old polycultural traditions of the region, there was already a rich biodiversity in their vineyards when he took over. Jordi's use of biodynamic methods was inspired by his friend and contemporary Joan Ramon Escoda, who had adopted the practices at his own estate in the preceding years. Above the soil, the rich biodiversity protects the vines and the soil from the increasingly arid conditions in Blancafort. Underground, Jordi cultivated a rich mycelial network that helps keep the soils healthy.\u003cbr\u003eJordi's original cellar, a cramped garage at the edge of the town, was where his family's fruit was vinified under its own name for the very first time in 2008. Today, the cellar is expanded somewhat and kept in pristine condition. Stainless and fibre tanks are used for the short, gentle macerations Jordi prefers. Through a small door, Jordi keeps a cool, compact room for ageing, with amphora sunk into the gravel underfoot and barrels and demijohns lining the walls. Work at the cellar is carried out with patience and ease, and Jordi employs gentle temperature control during fermentation to preserve the delicate aromatics we love in his wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate itself is situated on the eastern Ebro basin. The soils here formed about 35 million years ago and can be broken into three distinct layers each exposed at different points across the estate. The oldest layer is blueish-white calcareous sandstone, with the majority of the white varieties planted on these outcrops. Next we have red marl, useful for water retention through the hot summers. The top layer is gypsum, which helps to keep the soils open and breathable. With the cool nights at this elevation helping to keep the ripening even, we have this fascinating configuration of conditions that Jordi articulates in such delicate detail in his wines. With 16 hectares in total, Jordi produces about 12,000 bottles or so per year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe altitude of these vineyards, growing on limestone and sandstone, is 420 metres, helping Jordi’s wines achieve their hallmark freshness and digestibility despite the soaring temperatures that have been the scourge of winemakers in Catalunya in recent years. Jordi’s family have used amphora at their farm since 1779, but it was Jordi who first used them for vinification, they had always been used for oil before. This is an old school brisat of Conca de Barberà, that depicts the heat of the vintage and the delicate touch Jordi has at the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Macabeu, Parellada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Celler Jordi Llorens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701630802,"sku":"1700070","price":29.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blan-5-7-2022-2021.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"blanc-de-blancs-brut-nature-2019-clos-lentiscus","title":"Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature 2019 - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eYeasty and citrusy, with the delicate florals Malvasia de Sitges carries from its long association with this coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e oysters, or crab on buttered brown toast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne hundred percent Malvasia de Sitges (also labelled Greco di Subur, after the ancient Roman name for Sitges) from the Finca El Pou vineyard in the Garraf massif. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged on lees in old oak, then secondary fermentation triggered in bottle by the estate's honey and frozen must method. Minimum 36 months on the lees before disgorgement with zero dosage. 12% alcohol.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a visit in March 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines: the estate's first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12 feet down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, so as not to introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, overlooking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project, inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with its phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora playing a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production of red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7 to 10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled separately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSant Pere de Ribes, Penedès\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Malvasia, Greco\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701663570,"sku":"25\/002021","price":42.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blanc-de-blancs-brut-nature-2019.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"blanc-fugitiu-2022-bodega-clandestina","title":"Blanc Fugitiu 2024 - Bodega Clandestina","description":"\u003cp\u003eA white wine with the subtle complexity of an orange, this shows the class of Xarello from these old vineyards, with lemon posset, wild thyme, orange blossom, and apricot. The tannins are delicate, with a palate of substance and vitality that is tethered by the time spent ageing in oak. Superb Xarello here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e hake with lemon butter, or roast chicken with thyme.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXarello planted in 1970 in the Serral vineyard. The grapes were destemmed, with a portion submerged in the fermenting juice. The wine was then racked to steel until it completed malolactic fermentation, and was racked to 500-litre casks to age on the lees for three months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFerran Lacruz works 8 hectares of vines around his hometown of Sant Martí Sarroca in the Alt Penedès. A graduate of the Escola Agrària de Viticultura i Enologia Mercè Rossell i Domènech, Ferran was moved to make wine in his hometown after years working in tourism, where he encountered first-hand, among his clients, the reputational damage that decades of heavy, intensive viticulture had inflicted on the region. Growing up in the Penedès with a winemaking uncle, Ferran knows the hills of the Alt Penedès like the back of his hand, so when it came to acquiring vines, he already knew where to look. He was exacting in his selection, picking sites not on the hillsides where one might expect, but in the valleys, where the diurnal range is greatest, allowing slower ripening and later harvests. His Xarel·lo comes from old vine stock planted in the '60s and '70s, trained as bush vines, growing to a remarkable size in the famous cervell de gat soils of the region. He has also planted Carignan Blanc, a variety that ripens late and keeps its acidity well. In the cellar, all of the wines see a certain amount of skin contact, extracting the phenolics inherent to Xarel·lo and lending his wines a delicate complexity that shows the class of the variety. Ferran's use of glass for the élevage of the lighter wines brings a roundness and balance, while old wood and amphorae are used in the ageing of the more extracted wines. The wines themselves are remarkably lucid, detailed with the typicity of their provenance and the fiery personality of their maker.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese old bush vines grow almost to the size of small trees. The red clay is littered with cervell de gat: limestone nodules that the locals call ‘cat brains’. Hot during the days, Ferran's selection of this site was due to its position in a wide valley on the hillside of the Alt Penedès, where cool air settles overnight helping to preserve acidity. Fugitiu means fugitive, a reference to Ferran’s existence outside of the DO's control.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Xarello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Martí Sarroca, Alt Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bodega Clandestina","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701696338,"sku":"1700310","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blanc-fugitiu-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"blanc-sense-papers-2024-bodega-clandestina","title":"Blanc Sense Papers 2024 - Bodega Clandestina","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elegant nose with citrus, sea breeze, and custard, layered with white florals and thyme. The palate shows a delicate yet complex structure with fine, featherweight tannins adding a subtle bitterness to this bright, saline, Xarello, driven by limestone minerality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e grilled sea bass, or goat's cheese with honey and thyme.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXarello from two sites, planted 1962 and 1968. The harvest was over three passes, the first was pressed directly, the second pass saw short, 24 hour skin maceration, and the final pass, about 10% of the wine, got two weeks of skin contact. Each pass was vinified separately, aged in glass demijohn (the final portion was aged in cask), and blended before bottling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFerran Lacruz works 8 hectares of vines around his hometown of Sant Martí Sarroca in the Alt Penedès. A graduate of the Escola Agrària de Viticultura i Enologia Mercè Rossell i Domènech, Ferran was moved to make wine in his hometown after years working in tourism, where he encountered first-hand, among his clients, the reputational damage that decades of heavy, intensive viticulture had inflicted on the region. Growing up in the Penedès with a winemaking uncle, Ferran knows the hills of the Alt Penedès like the back of his hand, so when it came to acquiring vines, he already knew where to look. He was exacting in his selection, picking sites not on the hillsides where one might expect, but in the valleys, where the diurnal range is greatest, allowing slower ripening and later harvests. His Xarel·lo comes from old vine stock planted in the '60s and '70s, trained as bush vines, growing to a remarkable size in the famous cervell de gat soils of the region. He has also planted Carignan Blanc, a variety that ripens late and keeps its acidity well. In the cellar, all of the wines see a certain amount of skin contact, extracting the phenolics inherent to Xarel·lo and lending his wines a delicate complexity that shows the class of the variety. Ferran's use of glass for the élevage of the lighter wines brings a roundness and balance, while old wood and amphorae are used in the ageing of the more extracted wines. The wines themselves are remarkably lucid, detailed with the typicity of their provenance and the fiery personality of their maker.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe majority of the Xarello here comes from the Fassina vineyard, a fascinating planting that harks back to the post phylloxera era, when the growers here were experimenting with suitable rootstocks in their vineyards. Three portions of the vineyard show three distinctive leaf shapes and growth patterns, despite it being from the same plant material.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Xarello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Martí Sarroca, Alt Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bodega Clandestina","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701729106,"sku":"1700309","price":30.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blanc-sense-papers-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"brutal-2021-es-daqui","title":"Brutal 2021 - es d'Aqui","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarignan from schist in Cabrerolles, Faugères. The bunches were destemmed by hand, followed by nine months of maceration in amphora, then eight further months in amphora after pressing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarignan on Faugères schist is a delight and we have a superb example here, the rock lends mineral density and the variety gives a silky grip, bright acidity, and dark, spicy, fruit. A special wine here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Louis works from an unassuming cellar below his house in Moulin-neuf, close to Limoux. Trained as an oenologist, he worked at large commercial wineries in the mid-noughties, at one point managing a cellar that produced 160,000 bottles a year. After tasting the wines of his friend Antony Tortul of la Sorga, Jean-louis was convinced to walk a different path, and established his own label the following year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredominantly a micro-negociant, Jean-Louis scouts fruit from remote and isolated vineyards across the South-West, from Gaillac out to Saint-Chinian and further afield, as well as working closely with respected growers like Remi Poujol. A varying portion of his output every year comes from his own vines nearby, depending on the vintage. Bottling under the label Es d'Aqui, meaning \"from here\" in Occitan, Jean Louis reminds us that each of his wines is a singular expression of where they come from. Producing about 10,000 bottles a year, some cuvées in tiny quantities(sometimes as little as 400-800 bottles), Jean-louis' wines catalogue the breadth of intricacies that define southern wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFaugères sits on a ridge of metamorphic schist that runs north-west from Béziers, giving wines a mineral tension and aromatic complexity not found on the surrounding plain. Cabrerolles sits on the western edge, at higher altitude, where the schist is thin and stony. These shallow soils stress the vines, taking Carignan to the heady heights we find here, through Jean-louis’ delicate handling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Carignan\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Moulin-neuf, Ariège, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Es d'Aqui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701860178,"sku":"24\/001221","price":35.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_0a372579-85f8-481b-b17f-ec70eb2e66fc.jpg?v=1791451402"},{"product_id":"buriana-2023-jacopo-stigliano","title":"Buriana 2023 - Jacopo Stigliano","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt least twelve white varieties from Jacopo's vines in Valsamoggia... chasselas doré, alionza, trebbiano montanaro, trebbiano di spagna, trebbiano romagnolo, verdicchio, grechetto gentile, albana di romagna, albanona, sauvignon, montuni, moscato di terracina...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverything was picked together, before eight days of skin contact maceration, then two years in concrete before release.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWindfall apple, apricot stone, jasmine and a dewy petrichor on the nose, with a light framing of tannins in the mouth, with mineral compression, savoury orchard fruits, and a bitterness that brings complexity to a lengthy finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJacopo is a well-travelled lover of life and people, and even spent a year studying sociology at UCC here in Cork. He returned home to Valsamoggia, in the Apennine foothills of Emilia-Romagna, almost a decade ago, embarking on this significant project to preserve the millennia-old winemaking traditions of his region and the autochthonous varieties that grow in the valley's ancient vineyards. Restoring three hectares of old, co-planted vines on the lower part of the valley from abandonment, Jacopo's work preserves the vanishing viticultural practices of his home, with his approach in the vineyard and cellar deeply informed by the work of his mentors Antonio Ognibene, Giorgio Erioli, and Vittorio Graziano. The vineyards he tends were planted at a time before the prescriptions of industrialised farming swept the region, where each variety had a dedicated role in the balance of the vineyard and in the wine itself. Today, it’s rare to find many of these varieties growing anywhere, let alone beyond the crest of this valley. Jacopo prefers to pick everything at once, allowing each wine to ferment and age in one large mass, just as it would have been done when these vines were first planted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmilia-Romagna's Apennine foothills were once planted in what local farmers called coltura promiscua: vines, fruit trees, and grain grown together on the same land, with dozens of grape varieties sharing the same parcel rather than separated by variety or site. Industrial viticulture dismantled most of that in the second half of the twentieth century, replacing it with monoculture plantings of a handful of commercial varieties. The old mixed plantings Jacopo works in Valsamoggia are among the few that survived, a reminder of why his work is so significant. Growing on clay and fractured limestone at 300 or so masl. In Valsamoggia, like elsewhere, fermenting white wines on their skins was standard practice for centuries. Before stainless steel and temperature control became standard practice in mid-twentieth century, and without the equipment or space to separate the juice from the skins immediately, winemakers often loaded the harvested white grapes into vessels whole, yielding wines that were amber and textured. Buriana follows that cue, with everything picked together, macerated together and fermented and aged together as would have been the way when these vines were planted almost a century ago. The vine selection tells us much about the sharp intuitions and deep familiarity growers once had with their particular parcels. While it's understood this co planting was a natural disease management strategy, with some vines more resistant to pests and disease pressure than others, it's difficult to imagine the people who planted these vines didn't have the finished wine in mind. With Buriana, we feel this equilibrium in the wine, with its balance of weight, freshness, bitterness, and acidity. It's this rich chorus of tonal synchronicity that makes this wine so singular and significant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ancient Blend\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valsamoggia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jacopo Stigliano","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702220626,"sku":"25\/000934","price":39.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_8c54153b-c8b9-4e9f-baeb-6ac520884296.jpg?v=1791451403"},{"product_id":"c-rouge-2023-pierre-weber","title":"C Rouge 2023 - Pierre Weber","description":"\u003cp\u003ePinot Noir from the Eichberg Grand Cru and surrounding parcels. Two weeks of skin contact followed by 1 year ageing in old barriques sur lie. The elevation of these vines gives the fruit a tone that is both bright and rich, latticed with calcareous minerality and a subtle prickle of spice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePierre returned to his grandfather's estate in Husseren-les-Châteaux in 2018, leaving life as an environmental engineer in Paris behind when the yearning to return home to the vines could be ignored no longer. The estate covers four hectares on the hills of Husseren-les-Chateaux, with a hectare on the Grand Cru Eichberg. Most of the vines were planted between 1960 and 1970, and sit at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of Alsace, giving Pierre's wines their unmistakable cool freshness. Pierre's work in the vines draws on the influence of his grandfather and his father, the oenologist Jacques Weber, and he takes the effort and expense of having his work certified Bio and Demeter. Working from his meticulously kept cellar, Pierre’s wines are among the very best coming out of Alsace with their definitive character - mountain wine freshness and the ripe core of Alsace grown fruit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollow the routes de vins d’Alsace south from Colmar, through Eguisheim, and the you’ll find Hussren-les-chateaux in your sight. It’s commanding hillside position sits at the foot of the Stauffen massif, below the three hilltop castles for which the village is named. This position in significant, these are the highest vineyards in Alsace, at about 350masl, with views all the way across to the Black forest on a clear day. With 2 grand crus(Eichberg is the one more relevant to Pierre’s work) that have been noted for the quality of their wines since the middle ages, the village is today home to a thriving winemaking movement sparked by Bruno Schueller. The microclimate here distinguishes the villages wines from elsewhere in Alsace, particularly the Pinot Noir which is well suited to the cooler nights of these elevated hillsides. The limestone of Eichberg shines in Pierres wines, bringing a chiselled detail and fine structure that keeps the fruit feeling fresh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pinot Noir\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Husseren-les-Châteaux, Alsace, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Pierre Weber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702253394,"sku":"25\/000244","price":49.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-c-rouge-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"cest-les-dindons-qui-font-glouglou-2021-la-sorga","title":"C'est les dindons qui font glouglou 2021 - La Sorga (Antony Tortul)","description":"\u003cp\u003ePinot Noir from 20-year-old plantings in the poudingues of Castelreng, Haute Vallée de Limoux. 34 days of maceration, then 9 months ageing in clay eggs. Bright red berries with a hint of spice on the nose, huge minerality on the palate, and the higher altitude preserving a steely acidity. The ripe core of fruit reminds us that this wine is of the south. Light red, best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCastelreng is about the only place in the south that gives Pinot worth drinking, and its unsurprising to see Antony sniff this out given his tireless scouring of southern France for appropriate sites to work with. Castelreng has sits at about 300 masl, with the prevailing cers  blowing cold air across from the Atlantic, both creating cooler conditions that are acute to this commune in the foothills of the pyrenees. The poudingues stones provide drainage, but more importantly here push the roots down and retain heat overnight to even ripeness in these cooler conditions, and the presence of silex is recognisable in the smoky fruit quality we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pinot Noir (Limoux)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702318930,"sku":"22\/004098","price":40.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-c-est-les-dindons-qui-font-glouglou-2021.jpg?v=1793699097"},{"product_id":"caprice-du-chameau-2023-la-vrille-et-le-papillon","title":"Caprice du Chameau 2023 - la Vrille et le Papillon","description":"\u003cp\u003eViognier from two opposing sites in Valvignères, one facing east catching the morning sun, and the other in the west. Hand harvested and pressed in whole bunches, the juice was allowed to settle for a short period before fermentaion in stainless, with the temperature kept in check. Eight months ageing on fine lees followed before bottling. Géraldine prefer steel ageing for their Viognier and here we see why, with a nervy edge keeping the expressive aromatics and unctuous palate in check.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlenty of ripe, fleshy white peach, blossoms, and power, which shine rather than shout through the stony fresh mineral density we love in Viognier from this valley.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first met Géraldine and Méryl via Anders Frederik Steen and Anne Bruun Blauert, when the couple suggested I tasted with their village neighbours during a visit in 2021. Tasting through the cuves and vats with little conversation, the immediate drinking pleasure of their wines was what struck me that day. Since then, their wines have remained firm favourites, offering outstanding value and remarkably gratifying drinking, a forgotten virtue in modern wine. The couple’s unassuming, matter-of-fact sensibilities makes perfect sense, the poetry is all in the bottle, and the almost physical sensuality of their wines so tricky to articulate\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe couple live at Méryl's old family cellar in Valvignères, across from the local co-op, which Méryl's father helped establish. Méryl first worked as a stagiaire with the Oustric family, whose influence is reflected in the couple's approach today. He then went on to study agriculture in Dijon and oenology in Montpellier, working in Madiran and the Maconnais before returning home to set out on his own. Géraldine grew up in a winemaking family in Burgundy, training in law before eventually returning to wine, studying viticulture and oenology, after which she took an apprenticeship with Philippe and Catherine Jambon. The pair remain characteristically bashful when the pedigree of their training is mentioned. When returning to Valvignères in 2012, they took over Méryl's family cellar and set about establishing a GAEC, inheriting 2.5 hectares of vines around the village that have since increased to 6, mostly straddling the eastern and western flanks of the valley. The varieties are what you might expect - Syrah, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, and Merlot, and Grenache Noir - and some you might not, such as the Ugni Blanc that goes to their stellar Q blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a handful of hybrids. As part of transhumance, sheep pass through their vineyards twice per year, turning and fertilising the soil, cutting the grasses that grow between the rows, and adding to the biodiversity that thrives in their vineyards. La Vrille et le Papillon, meaning the tendril and the butterfly, is a name inspired by their parcel of Ugni Blanc at the base of the valley, where butterflies thrive through the growing season, a fitting symbol for the couple's endeavours.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite its positioning to the south of the prized vineyards of the Northern Rhone, this rugged valley produces Viognier of elegance and poise, with the Mistral keeping temperatures in check and the clay and limestone soils the predominate in the valley lending the variety a polished-stone minerality when vinified in the right hands. Géraldine \u0026amp; Méryl’s use of temperature control during fermentation preserves the tension between the inherent fruitiness of viognier and telluric backbone that is a hallmark of wines from this valley.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Viognier\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valvignères, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Vrille et le Papillon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702351698,"sku":"25\/000751","price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-caprice-du-chameau-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"carabistouille-2018-le-pelut","title":"Carabistouille 2018 - Le Pelut","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 2018 vintage was a hot one in Limoux. This Merlot paints that picture with grace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeppery notes of spice, plum fruits, juniper, and brodo spring from the glass, with firm tannins and fresh acidity bringing balance. Carbonic maceration preserves a sense of fluidity and lightness in this undeniably solar wine. With the tannins now well integrated, this is the perfect barbeque wine. Best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first met Pierre at Salons de Vins Libres in Alsace, where the complex aromatics and savoury, pastille structure of the cuvées he was showing upended my understanding of wines vinified by carbonic maceration. I have since visited his cellar on several occasions, in an isolated biotope close to Limoux, close to where his vines grow. Even in July, under the relentless southern sun, the surrounds of his cellar and vines are remarkably verdant, owing to the microclimate this pocket of the Languedoc enjoys.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePierre is originally from the Loire valley, and after studying agriculture, rural conservation, and heritage, he took farm work wherever he could find it. During stints in wine cellars, Pierre observed the juice transforming into wine, and he knew that this was the course he wanted to take.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile working for his friend Sylvain Saux of Domaine Pechigo, Pierre got the lucky break he had been waiting for, hearing of a parcel of vines that the owner was not going to harvest. It had never been treated with chemicals, and it was due to be pulled up and replanted. Pierre negotiated with the owner and acquired the fruit, producing his first vintage, just 2 barriques. A few years later, another parcel came up to rent, and Pierre took the opportunity, though that first year his naivety taught him a valuable lesson. He used no treatments at all, and lost the entire crop. Since then Pierre has been fastidious in his vineyard management, as steady handed as is possible, and has harvested every vintage since.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePierre’s vines are split across two blocks, a hectare of Merlot in Villarzel, a south facing slope that’s among the highest in Malepère at 300 metres, on the typical clay and limestone of the region. The other holding is La Mothe, with 4 hectares under vine as part of an 11 hectare polyculture. Here Pierre has 20 year old plantings of Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay on a northern tilting slope on clay and limestone at 180 metres of elevation. This site is particularly isolated, surrounded by fruit trees, hedgerows and grasses, a real oasis of tranquillity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEverything is certified by ecocert, and Pierre harvests all his fruit by hand. At the cellar, nothing is destemmed, the reds are all vatted in whole bunches and pressed after a few days. After pressing, the wines age on the lees in a mixture of stainless and resin vats, with Pierre liking how the microporosity of the resin influences the wines as they age. Elevage usually runs for 12-18 months, after which long bottle ageing in cellar before release is common.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHighly individual, Pierre’s wines are built on a structure of mineral density, complex bitterness, and savoury fruit, making them remarkable pairing wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlongside his wines, Pierre distils a selection of elegantly perfumed eau-de-vie with the fruit he harvests from the trees at La mothe, and each year produces a piquette that he sells for export.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eVillarzel is the smaller of Pierre's two plots, a single hectare of Merlot on one of the highest slopes of the Malepère, at around 300 metres in the hills between Carcassonne and Limoux. The parcel faces due south with a clear view across to the Pyrenees, and the vines, now over thirty years old, were farmed without chemicals for years before Pierre even arrived. The Malepère is unusual for the south. It's the only appellation in the region built around Merlot, with the climate here as much Atlantic as Mediterranean. Weather funnels in from the west through Carcassonne, and rainfall is higher. Summers enjoy a gentler heat than on the coastal plain, and as such the Bordeaux varieties ripen without cooking.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Merlot\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Limoux, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Le Pelut","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702384466,"sku":"22\/002121","price":31.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-carabistouille-2018.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"celle-den-face-2016-la-vrille-et-le-papillon","title":"Celle d'en Face 2016 - La Vrille et le Papillon","description":"\u003cp\u003eA more structured red than Meryl's early-drinking cuvées, from the warmer 2016 vintage and ten years on. Vinified in line with the estate's general approach: organic fruit, indigenous yeasts, no added sulphur. Now showing the secondary character that good Ardèche reds develop with age: dried herb, spice, a darker fruit profile, with the acid line still bright from the limestone underneath. A serious bottle that justifies being kept this long.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first met Géraldine and Méryl via Anders Frederik Steen and Anne Bruun Blauert, when the couple suggested I tasted with their village neighbours during a visit in 2021. Tasting through the cuves and vats with little conversation, the immediate drinking pleasure of their wines was what struck me that day. Since then, their wines have remained firm favourites, offering outstanding value and remarkably gratifying drinking, a forgotten virtue in modern wine. The couple’s unassuming, matter-of-fact sensibilities makes perfect sense, the poetry is all in the bottle, and the almost physical sensuality of their wines so tricky to articulate\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe couple live at Méryl's old family cellar in Valvignères, across from the local co-op, which Méryl's father helped establish. Méryl first worked as a stagiaire with the Oustric family, whose influence is reflected in the couple's approach today. He then went on to study agriculture in Dijon and oenology in Montpellier, working in Madiran and the Maconnais before returning home to set out on his own. Géraldine grew up in a winemaking family in Burgundy, training in law before eventually returning to wine, studying viticulture and oenology, after which she took an apprenticeship with Philippe and Catherine Jambon. The pair remain characteristically bashful when the pedigree of their training is mentioned. When returning to Valvignères in 2012, they took over Méryl's family cellar and set about establishing a GAEC, inheriting 2.5 hectares of vines around the village that have since increased to 6, mostly straddling the eastern and western flanks of the valley. The varieties are what you might expect - Syrah, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, and Merlot, and Grenache Noir - and some you might not, such as the Ugni Blanc that goes to their stellar Q blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a handful of hybrids. As part of transhumance, sheep pass through their vineyards twice per year, turning and fertilising the soil, cutting the grasses that grow between the rows, and adding to the biodiversity that thrives in their vineyards. La Vrille et le Papillon, meaning the tendril and the butterfly, is a name inspired by their parcel of Ugni Blanc at the base of the valley, where butterflies thrive through the growing season, a fitting symbol for the couple's endeavours.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eValvignères, Ardèche\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valvignères, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Vrille et le Papillon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702417234,"sku":"1700102","price":32.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-celle-d-en-face-2016.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"charbonnieres-2022-le-mazel","title":"Charbonnières 2022 - Le Mazel","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is classic le Mazel, Chardonnay pressed into steel where it fermented and aged for 2 years. Bottled with crown cap and a little residual sugar, now lending the wine an invigorating spritz. Bold and pure, this has plenty going on, with notes of spanish lime and dilisk giving an ozone, vital quality to this vintage cuvée from Gérald \u0026amp; Jocelyne.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI met Jocelyne and Gérald after Claire, who runs la Tour Cassée in Valvignères with her husband Jean-Claude, insisted I visit them while during a stay in 2021. She kindly arranged a tasting at their cellar for the following morning. The gesture was my introduction to the generosity of spirit with which anyone who has visited the region is familiar. The tasting the following morning was an education in wine that i will never forget, free from the pretence and ego that too often characterises encounters with vigneron(ne)s of such esteemed reputation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA venerable estate of Ardèche wine, Domaine du Mazel was founded in Valvignères by Jocelyne \u0026amp; Gérald's grandfather in 1919. Today, Gérald and Jocelyne farm twenty-two hectares or so around the valley, selling some fruit to local winemakers and making about 60,000 bottles per year themselves. \u003cbr\u003eLe Mazel is a prelude for many of the region’s wine successes in recent decades with the likes of Sylvain Bock, Andrea Calek, Jerome Jouret, and Anders Frederik Steen all having worked with or at the estate before going out on their own. Gérald's influence can be felt throughout southern Ardèche, where the collaborative spirit he helped to cultivate has fomented a vibrant, dynamic scene that has few comparisons in the world of wine. \u003cbr\u003eWhen the siblings took over from their father in 1982, they continued as coopérateurs, remaining active to the point that Gérald would become its vice president. Convinced by his wife, who had travelled with a friend to work in Beaujolais with Jean-Paul Thévenet, that something very interesting was happening in the region, Gérald travelled north, where over several visits he befriended Marcel Lapierre and Jacques Neauport. Inspired by the wines they were making, Gérald brought their methods back to Valvignères and decided to chart a new direction for his family's estate. They left the cooperative and began vinifying themselves, using Carbonic maceration for the reds, no filtration and no sulfitage. This was a radical move from Gérald, though perhaps more viable in Valvignères, which had long been seen as an agricultural, workhorse grapegrowing enclave that offered little in the way of quality. The freedoms this offered, alongthe size of their estate and their ability to sell fruit, le Mazel could absorb the mistakes that came with learning to make wine this way, often keeping wines in their cellar for years before their release when they started off. They slowly moved away from barrels, preferring steel, and these days their cellar is stacked with great big stainless steel vats along with a large wooden basket press. Having narrowing the aperture of their intention the couple now make wines built on purity of fruit and mineral vitality, and the siblings produce some of the most rewarding wines money can buy. Developing their intuitions over 5 decades, nobody quite understands the subtleties of growing grapes and making wine in this valley quite like Gérald \u0026amp; Jocelyne.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistorically overlooked and ignored, Valvignères has emerged as an epicentre for progressive viticulture and winemaking in the 21st century. Existing in the shadow of the hulking economy of the Rhone valley, the small valley west of le Teil made it's name when Gérald Oustric and his sister Jocelyne decided to cease selling their fruit to the local co-op(which Geralds father helped found in 1919) to begin producing wines themselves. Having farmed organically since the 80s, Gérald had been convinced to make his own wine after several trips to beaujolais in the early nineties, where he met Jacques Neauport, Jules Chauvet, Pierre bonneton et al. This move would have significant domino effects, with Gerald adopting Carbonic maceration for his reds, no filtration or fining, and no sulfitage in his cellar. this freed to small region from the shackles of the etablished wine industry in the region and reconnected with the valleys historical winemaking traditions(Valvigneres comes from the Roman Valis Vinaria, meaning valley of vines). Gerald would go on to mentor 15 growers in the region, cultivating a spirit of collaboration and sharing of ideas that existed few other places in France. The wines from cellars in this cluster share an iresistably heady, telluric, and deeply soulful quality that makes them great value and well worth exploring. In terms of Geology, we are almost in the south, but noticeably cooler than you might find just 20km south. Situated on what's traditionally known as the Bas Vivarais, the soils are predominantly clay and limestone, with outcrops of marne bleue and basalt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chardonnay\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valvignères, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine du Mazel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702482770,"sku":"24\/001333","price":27.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_8f295545-a18c-404f-a530-57974b33daed.jpg?v=1791451410"},{"product_id":"chatons-de-garde-2021-domaine-andrea-calek","title":"Chatons De Garde 2021 - Domaine Andrea Calek","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne hundred percent Syrah from vines between 25 and 55 years old on calcareous clay soils at Alba-la-Romaine. Twenty-one days of whole-bunch carbonic maceration at low temperature, then ten months in old 228-litre Burgundy barrels (between third and fifteenth use, pretty much neutral).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe long carbonic maceration of Syrah, especially on the clay and limestone here in Alba, gives a distinctive, more heady expression of dark fruits, violet, peat smoke, and fond brun, with softer tannins and curtain-weight aromatic intensity. Supple and elegant, this definitive of the house style and is drinking superbly at the minute.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChatons de Garde, meaning Guard Kittens, is another poke at the wine industry taking itself a little too seriously, mocking the melodrama and pomp of terms like 'vin de garde'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring a trip to the Ardèche in 2021, I arranged by email to visit Andrea at his cellar. I had tasted the estate's wines on several occasions, in London and elsewhere, and perhaps cowed somewhat by his reputation, I was eager to learn more about how he worked and to explore the potential of importing his wines to Ireland. Following directions to the address listed on Google, I arrived at the cellar door wet behind the ears but with wind in my sails. After a confusing exchange with the bemused proprietor, it soon became clear that Andrea was directing unwanted visitors from Google searches to a neighbouring vigneron (Anders Frederik Steen, as it happens), a joke at both parties' expense. My first experience of Andrea's wicked sense of humour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow a Czech ended up making wine in the remote valley between Valvignères and Alba-la-Romaine is a contested story, but what's certain is that Andrea managed to find himself in the right place at the right time on several occasions on his way to eventually establishing his own estate in 2007, buying 5 hectares from Gérald and Jocelyne Oustric, for whom he had been working. Prior to this, Andrea worked with Dominique Hauvette in Provence, successfully converting her estate's vines to organic viticulture. His time in the south was preceded by a stint in the Beaujolais, where he had fallen in with a progressive faction of vignerons like Guy Breton and Marcel Lapierre, whose influence remains fundamental to Andrea's philosophy of wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe story of Domaine Andrea Calek cannot be told without the reinvigoration Stephana Nicolescu brought when she joined Andrea in 2016, and she has since assumed the majority of the work in both the vines and the cellar. Stephana had been working with Loire vigneron Samuel Boulay, and had also spent time making wine in southern Spain. Today the estate is as much hers as it is Andrea's; she assembles a team of predominantly female vendangeurs for each harvest and ensures the estate's day-to-day running is relatively smooth. Stephana is fastidious in her management of the vines and delicate in the cellar, staying true to the estate's reputation for sultry, languid drinking reds and radiant, sinuous whites, while ensuring that every wine carries her recognisable signature (just not on the labels... yet).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a single block of about 4 hectares on the slope below the cellar, between Valvignères and Alba-la-Romaine. The soil is blue marl with a silty character, heavy and clay-like when wet and baking almost to concrete once it dries. Roughly half is Syrah, with Grenache, a little Merlot and a single row of Viognier grafted onto Merlot during a grafting workshop with other local growers, the fruit that goes to Pénultième. There are proper old vines - a parcel of gobelet-trained Grenache around sixty years old on very long rows, and older Syrah lower down the slope. Grenache is in gobelet, but Syrah flops if left alone, so it is trained low and kept aligned within the row, what Andrea calls a \"crushed gobelet,\" a low hedge run without wires. Farming is largely by hand, with a tractor used from time to time. They no longer practise biodynamics, and they keep the certification off the label, explaining it only if asked. Sprays are the standard organic copper and sulphur, and disease pressure is usually low here, though a very wet spring can bring heavy downy mildew and long hours removing marked leaves by hand, vine by vine. Working the soils goes by every other row, one left in grass, the next lightly scratched to open the soil before rain, with the centre of the row left to whatever grows on its own. Yields average around 40 hectolitres per hectare in a good year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe winery, built in 2010 on the Saint-Philippe site he took over from the Oustrics, is half dug into the foothill and designed to run by gravity. Grapes come in from above through three hatches and drop straight into the tanks whole-bunch, where fermentation starts. Sulphur is rarely added, though they prefer to add a small dose over losing a whole tank. Reds macerate whole-bunch for roughly a week to a month depending on the cuvée, worked by foot rather than pumped over; the free-run juice is drawn off and the marc pressed in a small 15-hectolitre Vaslin press, then the wine goes either to old barrels or back to tank until bottling. Wines that finish fermenting in barrel move to a fully underground cellar next door that stays cool and stable. During fermentation the tanks are tasted three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening, because an acetic spike can take a tank in the blink of an eye. The primeur cuvées like A Toi Nous, offering remarkable value, stay in tank for early bottling and come in around 10 to 12.5 percent, while more extracted wines like Chatons de Garde and Pénultième spend around a year in old Burgundy barrels, sourced by Andrea via his old contacts from his time as a barrel merchant in the Czech Republic.\u003cbr\u003eThe whites are fermented and aged in old barrels only, on very long, slow ferments that often finish well after the reds, with élevage up to about two years. They come in around 13.5 to 14 percent, and volume is tiny, roughly 4,000 bottles out of a total nearer 40,000, usually selling out within a couple of months. Historically the white fruit has been bought in, organic Viognier and Chardonnay from Gérald Oustric at Le Mazel, harvested by Andrea's own team.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Calek estate is just off the road between Valvignères and Alba-la-Romaine, with the estate vines surrounding the cellar in a single block. When Andrea first arrived here to make wine, and for several years afterwards, he lived in a trailer by the vineyards, building a  collection of old Citroen cars that remain strewn around the property in various states of disrepair. Andrea and Stephana have since built a cellar and bioclimatic home for themselves, and sitting on their front terrace, you feel how exposed the site is to the elements. The mistral blows strong, and devastating summer hails are becoming a regular scourge. The scrub and bush are sparse, and the sky feels heavy and close overhead. Here, in warm conditions on limestone and clay, Syrahs sugars climb fast and tannins and pigment accumulate rapidly. The semi-carbonic maceration teases out the subtleties of the variety in these conditions and helps to retain the elegant aromas of the Syrah.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Syrah\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alba-la-Romaine, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Andrea Calek","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702515538,"sku":"23\/003121","price":29.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-chatons-de-garde-2021-2022.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"chatzen-2021-la-sorga","title":"Chatzen 2021 - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003eSauvignon Blanc (29-year-old vines, 60%) and Chasan (44-year-old vines, 40%), from the sandy limestone soils around Carcassonne. Yield was 6 hl\/ha, extremely low. The maceration was a 65-day trempette carried out in three phases, allowing gradual, controlled extraction at each stage rather than a single continuous soak. Then 18 months in sandstone jar. 1,300 bottles produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA complex nose of mango, citrus, dried banana, curry, mandarin. The palate is ample and mineral, aromatic, long and complex, with a lovely tannic frame, very great ageing potential.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese vines grow on the western frontier of the Languedoc, where the Aude Valley runs between the southern tip of the Massif central and the Pyrenean foothills. The cooler, wind moderated climate here gives a more taut mineral thrust to the wine, particularly with the tiny concentrated yields of just 6hl\/ha.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChasan is a rare variety I had not come across before, a cross between Chardonnay and Palomino\/Listan that was bred in 1958. It was intended to produce wines of more aromatic complexity than what were being commercially vinified in the south. It never really caught on, and plantings are still incredibly margninal. Its early bussing means it can get caught by Spring frosts, and the late ripening exposes it to disease pressures in the autumn. Nevertheless, for someone like Antony, who works with long macerations, the grape is valuable, giving a unique aromatic profile with tones of woody citrus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sauvignon Blanc, Chasan (Carcassonne)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702613842,"sku":"25\/000943","price":53.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-chatzen-2021.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"dolly-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Dolly 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of Merlot, Weissburgunder, and Riesling, each with a light maceration on skins before fermenting and ageing in stainless.\u003cbr\u003eHere we find all the small red berries, currants, wild strawberries, and a verdant, chlorophyllic, herbaceousness. Light and nimble, but with good volume on the palate, and a gentle brush of tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA blend of fruit from two neighbouring regions, Dolly is a Deutscher Wein. The Merlot and Weissburgunder come from Rheinhessen, the biggest wine region in the country by volume and landmass, a wide limestone and loess plateau south of the Rhine. The fruit is sourced from Andi Mann in Eckelsheim and Niklas Rückrich respectively, two of the region's most respected young producers. The Riesling comes from Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel in the Nahe, a valley tucked neatly between Rheinhessen and the Mosel. There's plenty of diversity in the soils here, with patches of volcanic, slate, sandstone and clay soils side by side. Nahe Riesling often casts an edgier silhouette than elsewhere, especially when wood has not been used at the cellar, as we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Merlot, Weissburgunder, Riesling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702744914,"sku":"25\/000085","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_8b4a19a1-3816-4bc2-8c07-962cec6a3516.jpg?v=1791451415"},{"product_id":"doris-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Doris 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eDornfelder and Riesling that go straight to the press, so no skin contact. Fermentation and ageing in stainless steel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDornfelder and Riesling that go straight to the press, so no skin contact. Fermentation and ageing in stainless steel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith fruit from Rheinhessen and Nahe, this is classified Deutscher Wein. The Dornfelder is from Niklas Rückrich in Eckelsheim, growing on limestone and loess at heart of Rheinhessen. Germany's largest region by both area and volume, it's long been associated with bulk production. These days Niklas and his contemporaries have elevated the region's status, with the digestibility and substance of their wines sought after by sommeliers and cavistes from Copenhagen to Seoul. Dornfelder is a German crossing developed in the 1950s, giving deep-coloured wines with firm tannins. Here, the direct-pressed juice gives us something lighter and fruit-driven, capturing the variety's fruitiness, while leaving the weight behind. The Riesling comes from Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel in Nahe, a valley nestled between Rheinhessen and the Mosel. Its remarkable geological diversity, with volcanic, slate, sandstone and clay soils enmeshed and overlapping, gives Riesling a racy precision, bringing lift and structure to this blend.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dornfelder, Riesling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702810450,"sku":"24\/000816","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-doris-2023-litre.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"douze-points-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Douze Points 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eCabernet Dorsa from Jas Swan's friend Andi Mann in Rheinhessen. Five days of semi-carbonic maceration, followed by fermentation and ageing in a stainless steel tank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe deeper colour here belies this effortless drinkability of the wine itself, with juicy plum and ripe sloe berry spice, and a thread of acidity that sharpens the tone. Light at just 10%, this is a great apero or lunch wine, and is best served chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBred almost 20 years after Dornfelder at the same institute in Wurttemberg, Cabernet Dorsa is a more obscure graduate from Germany's postwar ampelographic research, aiming to produce varieties that could ripen and colour in the cooler northern climate. Originally recorded as a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Dornfelder (hence the name), we now know it's a cross of Blaufrankisch and Dornfelder. Given this parentage, it's no surprise that the variety produces inky, robust reds. Its frost hardiness makes it a useful tool for growers since they were permitted to plant it commercially in 2003, but with under 500 hectares in total planted, it remains on the extreme fringes of German viticulture. To find it in a single varietal bottling, as we do here, is exceptionally rare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cabernet Dorsa\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702908754,"sku":"24\/000815","price":34.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_e542293f-e2a7-46df-96ee-3d52c1d81387.jpg?v=1791451417"},{"product_id":"el-soci-2024-bodega-clandestina","title":"El Soci 2024 - Bodega Clandestina","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese old vines show a remarkably fresh expression of Macabeu, with radiant citrus and a spring water freshness. Great drinking flow on the palate, with racy acidity and a satifying bite of salinity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDirect press of the bunches, with fermentation in steel. The wine was racked after malolactic fermentation, and aged in steel until bottling the following April.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFerran Lacruz works 8 hectares of vines around his hometown of Sant Martí Sarroca in the Alt Penedès. A graduate of the Escola Agrària de Viticultura i Enologia Mercè Rossell i Domènech, Ferran was moved to make wine in his hometown after years working in tourism, where he encountered first-hand, among his clients, the reputational damage that decades of heavy, intensive viticulture had inflicted on the region. Growing up in the Penedès with a winemaking uncle, Ferran knows the hills of the Alt Penedès like the back of his hand, so when it came to acquiring vines, he already knew where to look. He was exacting in his selection, picking sites not on the hillsides where one might expect, but in the valleys, where the diurnal range is greatest, allowing slower ripening and later harvests. His Xarel·lo comes from old vine stock planted in the '60s and '70s, trained in gobelet, growing to a remarkable size in the famous cervell de gat soils of the region. He has also planted Carignan Blanc, a variety that ripens late and keeps its acidity well. In the cellar, all of the wines see a certain amount of skin contact, extracting the phenolics inherent to Xarel·lo and lending his wines a delicate complexity that shows the class of the variety. Ferran's use of glass for the élevage of the lighter wines brings a roundness and balance, while old wood and amphorae are used in the ageing of the more extracted wines. The wines themselves are remarkably lucid, detailed with the typicity of their provenance and the fiery personality of their maker.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFerran likes to say this wine is a good honest table wine. For me, it delivers so much more, highlighting the quality of the raw materials that the Penedès has to offer by keeping the vinification relatively simple. Macabeu is always a grape from which I expect broad shoulders and breadth of fruit, but this is something else entirely, built on a balance of purity and acidity. The vines are up to 80 years old, so we have a great mineral density in the wine, though it is not weighed down. Ferran looks for vineyards that are planted in small \"valleys\" on the hillsides of alt-Penedès, where the cold air settles at night and evens ripening. The altitude is also a factor here, and while we are not at dizzying heights, the vineyards grow between 190masl an 390masl, where the climate and diurnal range become a factor. The 4 parcels were harvested over four passes. Ferran seeks stability here, so the first pass is on the cusp of ripeness, keeping the ph down. This is then blended with the other three passes, capturing the evolution of the fruit at harvest time in one wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Macabeu\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Martí Sarroca, Alt-Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bodega Clandestina","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702941522,"sku":"25\/001090","price":26.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-el-soci-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"els-bassotets-2024-joan-ramon-escoda","title":"Els Bassotets 2024 - Joan Ramon Escoda","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis year Els Bassotets is from Garnaxta Blanca vines planted in the early 2000s in several pockets around the estate between 400 and 600masl. After a gentle maceration over 5 days, the pressed juice was aged in concrete over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA salty freshness on the nose, with spanish lime, basil, and fleshy peach. Expansive on the palate, with the soft brush of tannins and a bright, ripe and fruity acidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was first introduced to Joan Ramon Escoda at his impressive cellar and adjoining restaurant Tossal Gros by Jordi Llorens. After spending the day with Jordi at his cellar in nearby Blancafort, I tagged along while he dropped wine to his old friend for a groupage shipment. What followed was a baptism of fire in Catalan wine that lasted late into the evening, and a candid introduction to the characters that sowed the seeds of the region's current rude health.\u003cbr\u003eJoan Ramon grew up in Reus, a petrochemical capital, where he excelled at motocross, winning a regional championship. At the behest of his wife Carmen, he shifted his focus to wine, and began his schooling at Carmen's family estate. After a stint working at a large commercial winery in Catalunya, he travelled across France, striking up an enduring friendship with Thierry Puzelat while in the Loire, which would deeply influence his philosophy going forward.\u003cbr\u003eIn 1997, Joan Ramon and Carmen took the reins at her family estate in Prenafeta, a tiny hamlet close to Montblanc. They set about converting to organics, before establishing the estate under the name Escoda-Sanahuja, as it's known today, in 1999. From this time the influence of biodynamics became more present in their work, in both the vineyard and the cellar, and the estate grew into a thriving system of polyculture, with olive groves and fruit trees merging between the vineyards. By 2005 the pair had ceased adding sulphur to the wines entirely, fining and filtration being things they had never practised. At the time this was unheard of in Catalunya, though they were convinced by the results.\u003cbr\u003eTheir estate sits on the clay and limestone slopes below Tossal Gros, a regional landmark whose pointed peak, just under 870 metres, is known locally as the Nas del Gegant, the giant's nose. A few kilometres away, the Cistercian monastery of Poblet, founded in 1151 and inhabited by monks to this day, cultivated vines through the Middle Ages, as the Romans had done before them.\u003cbr\u003eIn 2012 the cellar was built three storeys down into the mountain it sits on, reached by steep stairs or a rickety cage lift. Here Joan Ramon uses a mix of vessels, barrels, amphora of various sizes and steel, with the vintage determining how each is used. One thing is for certain: all the wines, whites and reds alike, are macerated on their skins, the length varying by cuvée, with Joan Ramon prizing fluidity above all.\u003cbr\u003eSurrounding the cellar, the vines remain splendidly isolated, ringed by forest and woods with no immediate neighbours. Flowers and grasses grow freely between the rows, and the vines are treated with herbal preparations through the growing season. Left to dig deep into the limestone for the water they need, they draw up the intense, almost cavernous minerality that illuminates each of his cuvées, year after year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Garnatxa Blanca\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Tossal Gros, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Celler Escoda-Sanahuja","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703007058,"sku":"26\/001179","price":31.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_9b73586b-4077-465a-bda0-6c61d3e6ca5e.jpg?v=1791451419"},{"product_id":"exspectatia-2021-christian-ducroux","title":"Exspectatia 2021 - Christian Ducroux","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeclassified old vine Regnié from an unsung pioneer and old master of the Beaujolais. Christian adopted organic viticulture in 1980, progressing to biodynamics soon after. Growing on pink granite soils, the fruit fermented in whole bunches for 15 days before pressing into old casks in Christian's subterranean cellar. Benefitting from four decades of biodiversity in his vineyards, Christian’s work imparts a humble majesty to his wines. Best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first tasted Christian’s wines at Salons des Vins Libres in Mittelbergheim in 2021, on a hot day in early July. He was presenting with his son Thibault. With their stand unassailed by the hordes of excited interlopers jumping at the chance to mingle during a brief break in the lockdowns, I took the chance to taste through their selection and was astounded by the depth and emotion of their work, characterised by a density of fruit and thrilling, rose-granite minerality. I asked to visit their estate in Thulon, and we agreed a date two weeks thereafter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the interim, every winemaker I mentioned the upcoming trip to gushed over Christian’s wines and his works in the vines, though his estate was completely unfamiliar to me. On spending time with the father and son duo in their vines and cellar, I soon understood why. Christian's undistracted focus on his vineyard work, and aversion to the celebrity such a reputation often attracts, allowed him to practice his metier in relative peace since starting out in 1970, in the same vineyards his father and grandfather before him had tended.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI followed a capillary system of narrow, winding roads that connect the tiny villages dotted around Mt. Brouilly and Régnié-Durette to Lantignié. Vines dominate the landscape up here in the hills, but this is cycling country too, and it was Christian’s familiarity with Cork through the Tour de France that convinced him to sell me some wines after we tasted that day. Arriving at his cellar by bike, following directions of farmers along the way, I found Christian and Thibault working in a parcel of 90-year-old Gamay vines below their house, making early preparations for the harvest. Their two horses took shade from the July sun beneath a peach tree, one of many dotted amongst his vines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his first decade running the family estate, Christian worked in the way his father taught him, regular, heavy treatments in the vines, and vinifying with yeasts, filtration, and sulfitage. In quite a bold move, Christian was convinced to convert his vines to organic  in 1980, after reading the lectures of Rudolf Steiner. By 1985, the estate was certified biodynamic, and Christian established himself as a quiet pioneer of progressive viticulture in France.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian was inspired by the results he observed and continued to explore methods that could enrich the biodiversity of his vineyards and the health of the soils. He folded in agroforestry, planting fruit trees throughout his vineyards, reduced the density of vines, and reduced his overall hectarage from 8 to 4. In 1998, he retired his tractor, taking two horses to work between the vines and not compact the soil as they do. His aim is to interrupt the rhythms of nature as little as possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian refers to himself as a farmer, not a winemaker or vigneron, and so his vinifications are relatively straightforward. All his parcels are harvested on the same day, with whole bunches loaded into vats intact. Unlike his illustrious contemporaries in the Gang of Four, Christian never used external CO2 for his whole bunch fermentations, which usually last about 15 days. Instead he allows the fermentations to begin as semi-carbonic, before the tanks fill with CO2 from the fermenting juice at the bottom. Each of his three reds come from different portions of the press, Prologue is the free run juice, Exspectatia is the first pressed juice, and Patience is the remainder. The pressed juices are fed by gravity to Christian's subterranean cellar to age over winter in old barriques.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow retired, Christian’s son Thibault looks after the cellar work and most of the work in the vineyard, but of course Christian is ever present, particularly in the vines. When I first visited, Thibault had just graduated from oenology, and though young, showed ambition to take over the estate and carry on his father’s work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian’s vines grow within the less heralded, most recent Cru of the Beaujolais, Regnié, where the elevation and pink granite ‘gore'  drives the vine roots deep into the soil. The soils also radiate heat absorbed during the day to help with even ripening. While his wines are clear voiced expressions of the terroir here, Christian has chosen to sell his wines as vin de France since 2013, renaming what had been his Regnié as Exspectatia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gamay\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Lantignié, Beaujolais, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Christian Ducroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703039826,"sku":"22\/004103","price":28.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-exspectatia-2021-75cl.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"fier-heretique-2021-la-sorga","title":"Fier Hérétique 2021 - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe whole bunches of Muscat and the other grapes were steeped in the direct-press Niellucio juice for 45 days, with ageing in tank after pressing. Niellucio(the Corsican grape, in Italy known as Sangiovese) provides the backbone here. The Muscats and table grapes, Chasselas, Listan, Cardinal all bring aromatic intensity and length to this electric rosé, with peaches, almond , grapefruit and blood orange on the nose, and the intense fruits are tempered by a vaulting acidity and length on the palate. A rosé unlike any other in France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fruit here comes from the iron-rich limestone of Cessenon-sur-Orb, a commune in the south-east of the Saint Chinian appellation. Old school Languedoc here, referencing a time when table grapes were planted among the wine grapes, and we also have a real outlier for the region, Niellucio, an uncommon variety on mainland France, though its inherent structure is well suited to these argilo-calcaire soils. Muscat is at home in the Hérault, and here contributes a leaner aromatic timbre than what we might expect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Niellucio, Muscat, Cardinal, Chasselas (Saint-Chinian)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703105362,"sku":"1700256","price":42.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-fier-heretique-2021.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"hiraeth-2023-jacopo-stigliano","title":"Hiraeth 2023 - Jacopo Stigliano","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of red and white varieties from Jacopo's old vineyards in Valsamoggia with notes of red plum, damson, and pithy pomegranate steeped in a voluminous, mineral-dense juice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough all the varieties in these old vineyards are yet to be identified, we can say the red varieties are Barbera, Uva Tosca, Negrettino, and Lambrusco Grasparossa, and the whites are Trebbiano Romagnolo and Albana.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA short maceration before pressing. Jacopo times the press to when the skins' cap rises, and he's happy with how the juice is tasting. Two years in concrete followed, and one year in bottle before release.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 24 hours of maceration, this has a delicate structure and light colour, though the mineral density and dewy fruitiness give the wine a sense of power and grace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJacopo is a well-travelled lover of life and people, and even spent a year studying sociology at UCC here in Cork. He returned home to Valsamoggia, in the Apennine foothills of Emilia-Romagna, almost a decade ago, embarking on this significant project to preserve the millennia-old winemaking traditions of his region and the autochthonous varieties that grow in the valley's ancient vineyards. Restoring three hectares of old, co-planted vines on the lower part of the valley from abandonment, Jacopo's work preserves the vanishing viticultural practices of his home, with his approach in the vineyard and cellar deeply informed by the work of his mentors Antonio Ognibene, Giorgio Erioli, and Vittorio Graziano. The vineyards he tends were planted at a time before the prescriptions of industrialised farming swept the region, where each variety had a dedicated role in the balance of the vineyard and in the wine itself. Today, it’s rare to find many of these varieties growing anywhere, let alone beyond the crest of this valley. Jacopo prefers to pick everything at once, allowing each wine to ferment and age in one large mass, just as it would have been done when these vines were first planted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHiraeth is a Welsh word, it translates roughly as a longing for something or somewhere that may no longer exist as remembered. Emilia-Romagna's Apennine foothills were once planted in what local farmers called coltura promiscua: vines, fruit trees, and grain grown together on the same land, with dozens of grape varieties sharing the same parcel rather than separated by variety or site. Industrial viticulture dismantled most of that in the second half of the twentieth century, replacing it with monoculture plantings of a handful of commercial varieties. The old mixed plantings Jacopo works in Valsamoggia are among the few that survived, a reminder of why his work is so significant. Clay and fractured limestone at 350 metres delivers more acidity and savoury mineral character than the flat Emilian plains produce, and the altitude brings diurnal temperature shifts that keep ripening slow and the wines fresh, though dramatic climatic shifts from the beginning of the decade have turned these patterns on their head somewhat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ancient Blend\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valsamoggia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jacopo Stigliano","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703269202,"sku":"25\/000935","price":39.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-hiraeth-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"kremo-2020-celler-jordi-llorens","title":"Kremo 2020 - Celler Jordi Llorens","description":"\u003cp\u003eMacabeu and Parellada from 80-year-old vines at approx 600 masl. Semi-carbonic maceration for 2 weeks, then into amphora for 6 months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes of lavender, black tea, angelica root, and nutmeg on the nose, this is a deep and concentrated wine from Jordi, reflecting the reduced yields caused by mildew. Structured and defined on the palate, with a nice fruit volume and mineral tension. A bold, complex orange from Jordi that deserves to be enjoyed over hours or days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJordi Llorens is an eighth-generation farmer at his family's estate in Blancafort, with paperwork showing that their family have been here since 1779. It is a quiet municipi on the southern slope of the Serra del Tallat, in the central part of the Conca de Barberà. The family has always farmed organically, growing their vines as part of a wider polycultural system that included fruit trees, nut trees, olive groves, and livestock. Up until Jordi returned home to take over from his father in 2007, the family sold their grapes to the local co-operative, as was the conventional practice at the time.\u003cbr\u003eSeeking a deeper understanding of his family's work, Jordi completed a degree in Geology before returning home. These academic underpinnings complemented the intuitive methods his family had followed over generations, to the extent that his old friend Manel Aviñó of Clos Lentiscus once advised me that nobody understood the terrain of these hills like Jordi. Because the family had farmed in the old polycultural traditions of the region, there was already a rich biodiversity in their vineyards when he took over. Jordi's use of biodynamic methods was inspired by his friend and contemporary Joan Ramon Escoda, who had adopted the practices at his own estate in the preceding years. Above the soil, the rich biodiversity protects the vines and the soil from the increasingly arid conditions in Blancafort. Underground, Jordi cultivated a rich mycelial network that helps keep the soils healthy.\u003cbr\u003eJordi's original cellar, a cramped garage at the edge of the town, was where his family's fruit was vinified under its own name for the very first time in 2008. Today, the cellar is expanded somewhat and kept in pristine condition. Stainless and fibre tanks are used for the short, gentle macerations Jordi prefers. Through a small door, Jordi keeps a cool, compact room for ageing, with amphora sunk into the gravel underfoot and barrels and demijohns lining the walls. Work at the cellar is carried out with patience and ease, and Jordi employs gentle temperature control during fermentation to preserve the delicate aromatics we love in his wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate itself is Situated on the eastern Ebro basin. The soils here formed about 35 million years ago and can be broken into three distinct layers each exposed at different points across the estate. The oldest layer is blueish-white calcareous sandstone, with the majority of the white varieties planted on these outcrops. Next we have red marl, useful for water retention through the hot summers. The top layer is gypsum, which helps to keep the soils open and breathable. With the cool nights at this elevation helping to keep the ripening even, we have this fascinating configuration of conditions that Jordi articulates in such delicate detail in his wines. With 16 hectares in total, Jordi produces about 12000 bottles or so per year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA wine that showcases the breadth of Jordi’s stylistic repertoire through a series of challenging vintages, here we have the intense aromatic gusto and structure of old vine macabeu on full display, tempered by the expansive minerality that is woven through all of Jordi’s wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Macabeu, Parellada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Celler Jordi Llorens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703367506,"sku":"1700073","price":34.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-kremo-2020.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"la-cabane-de-jeanne-2023-les-bories-jefferies","title":"La Cabane de Jeanne 2023 - Les Bories Jefferies","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom thirty year old vines planted over 0.7 hectares across Joe’s three parcels in Caux. Everything was harvested by hand on the same day. Both Grenache varieties and half of the Ugni went straight to the press. The remaining bunches of Ugni Blanc were then submerged in the direct press juice to macerate for 6 days. The macerated bunches were then pressed off and the juice was blended with the rest. The wine was racked of gross lees at the end of fermentation and aged for 21 months in tank on the fine lees. All movements by gravity, including bottling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBig complexity on the nose, with propolis, ginger biscuit, rosemary, lemon oil, and vine peach. We have fruit volume on the palate, with substantial mineral compression and great drinking flow, all tethered by fine, pithy tannins from the Ugni. From this latest vintage, Joe has shifted to crown cap for his closures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoe’s introduction to wine came via legendary vigneron Bernard Bellahsen, from whom Joe bought bread at a local market. When the opportunity to take charge of 3 hectares of vines from his father-in-law presented itself, encouragement from Bernard, along with Julien Peyras and Antony Tortul of la Sorga, emboldened Joe to accept.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe went back to study winemaking in Montpellier, and despite the guidance of his well-seasoned mentors, initially worked with an oenologist and made wines to ‘the Languedoc recipe’. Robust, bold, reds with big tannins and high alcohol conformed to the status quo, and whites that received filtration and generous sulfitage. Growing frustrated with his inability to find the unique terroir of Caux in his wines, and endless arguments with the oenologue on his books, Joe began to practice the methods of his early mentors, ceasing debourbage post press, filtration, sulfitage, and, scandalously, began vinifying the reds with carbonic maceration. In the vines, the work is far beyond the requirements of organic, and his treatments in the vines are minimal and preventative rather than responsive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 12 years, Joe’s wines have become definitive of the new Languedoc, utterly elegant and vital while retaining the Mediterranean soul and ripe fruit of southern France. They are remarkable wines that detail the breadth of possibilities one can uncover in the Languedoc.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Grenache grows on red clay, gravel, and basalt scree, with the Ugni Blanc coming from clay, limestone and basalt scree. The basalt scree comes from the Volcan des Baumes, which erupted 1.25 million years ago dispersing chunks of hardened lava where these vines now grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe maceration technique Joe uses here, what he calls trempette(dip\/dunk), is a type of carbonic maceration. The bunches of Ugni Blanc are submerged intact in the direct press juice, creating an anaerobic environment in the same way CO2 works in standard carbonic maceration. The berries and stems never break, so the extraction from the exterior of the berries and stems is quite gentle. We can feel this is the fine tannins. Inside the berries an intracellular fermentation is triggered, which contributes to the aromatic complexity of the wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is Joe’s variation on a technique often credited to Daniel Sage, a reclusive vigneron and négociant working high in the Haute-Loire, whose delicately extracted wines were made by gently submerging intact bunches in direct press juice. Though the technique hardly originated with Sage, he certainly repopularised it  in a contemporary context.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Caux, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Les Bories Jefferies","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703433042,"sku":"1700415","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_f9117cb7-61f3-4a3b-90a0-f56c48708c9a.jpg?v=1791451426"},{"product_id":"legionarin-2023-weingut-schnabel","title":"Legionarin 2023 - Weingut Schnabel","description":"\u003cp\u003eSauvignon Blanc from 15 year old vines in the Hohenegg vineyard, grown by Roland and Alice Tauss. Harvested by hand, the bunches were pressed before fermenting and ageing for a year on fine lees in used 228 litre barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cool, mineral driven timbre for this Sauvignon Blanc, with ripe aromatics of verbena, apple blossom, and a flinty smokiness. Gossamer fruit on the palate lifted by an arcing, bowline of acidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first tasted Karl and Eva's wines sitting at the bar of Neighbourhood Wine in North Melbourne in 2018. It was a bottle of Urgestein, a blend of red varieties from their three vineyards. I was struck, as anyone familiar with their work will understand, by the weightless power of the wine, despite its mineral density and ripe fruit. I reached out to their Australian importer, Campbell Burton, for their details, which he obligingly provided. Since then we've remained in touch, and I visited them at their stand at La Dive Bouteille on several occasions in the years that followed, through challenging lockdown years. Their philosophy of farming, and they see themselves as farmers above anything else, is as Karl describes it, puritanical, and I've always left their company with a deeper fascination with the remarkable wines of the Sausal. The Sausal Inselberg, or island mountain, is a geological formation older than the Alps, with ancient slate soils that produce wines unlike anything you will find elsewhere in Europe. It's no exaggeration to say that these wines were instrumental in my pursuit of a career in wine, and so it's a great pleasure to work with Karl and Eva to represent their wines here in Ireland.\u003cbr\u003eThe couple make their wines at the venerable farm known as Ermihof, Karl's old family holding in the hamlet of Maierhof, in the municipality of Gleinstätten, in Styria. Ermihof is the farm name, or Vulgoname, an old Styrian tradition by which the farm itself retains its name regardless of who owns it, in fact the owner would often have been known by the farm name rather than their surname. This was useful to identify who exactly one was gossiping about at the local inn at a time when many villagers would have shared the same first and last names. Karl and Eva live at the roadside inn that was run by Karl's mother. A popular drinking spot for the locals, it was where she met Karl's father, who was the farmer at Ermihof at the time. Their eventual marriage presented a happy commercial opportunity, and they began working together, selling the wines from the farm at the inn, where they became the local favourite.\u003cbr\u003eThe sudden death of Karl's parents when he was 17 closed the chapter on an intergenerational period of active operations at Ermihof, and it lay fallow for several years. Karl went to study agricultural economics at BOKU, while Eva read business administration at WU. Neither attended the illustrious wine schools of the German speaking world, Klosterneuburg, close to Vienna, or Geisenheim in the Rheingau. This would prove significant when they returned home to reactivate the farm in 1998. Before doing so, Karl spent two years working in Burgundy, though refuses to disclose where. Nevertheless, he brought the techniques of the region's red wine production back to Ermihof, and began replanting his three parcels with Blaufränkisch, Pinot Noir, Rotburger (Blauer Zweigelt) and Morillon (Chardonnay). The couple's sanity was questioned by their neighbours and friends, with the prosperity of the region's wine economy built on the success of highly technological white wines, particularly from Sauvignon Blanc.\u003cbr\u003eWith Karl's family having never used chemicals at Ermihof, the farm had always been organic, and so when they were certified by Demeter in 2003, it was ratifying a longstanding practice rather than a conversion. Keeping a small herd of rare breed, horned Celtic cattle, who provide the manure for the preparations they use, the couple's decisions were in pursuit of the closed circuit aspirations they had from the beginning. This was inspired by their vision of the farm as a single living organism, a holistic view that requires work that others would find painstakingly tedious.\u003cbr\u003eTheir wines began to be denied a Prüfnummer as they withdrew filtration and sulphur addition at the cellar, a process completed in 2007. The turbidity and breadth of expression was seen by the assessment panel as atypical and faulty. They made the decision to label their wines outside of the classification, losing the protected Ried designation for their three vineyards, and they have been sold as Landwein ever since. Karl stipulates that had they followed the usual path and attended Klosterneuburg or Geisenheim, their playbook could have been very different.\u003cbr\u003eParallel to these developments on the domestic front, the Schnabels began looking outward to the international market, joining S.A.I.N.S., a French collective who are committed to producing wines without manipulation through filtration or sulphur addition. Their wines became cult favourites among winemakers from both the conventional and radical traditions, and they developed a healthy international distribution network outside of the usual corridors of the day. The idea of world class reds coming from the Sausal seemed almost paradoxical in the context of the day, and so curiosity attracted collectors and importers from far and wide.\u003cbr\u003eThe region itself is an isolated massif that stands alone in the wider Südsteiermark. The massif was pushed higher when the Alps were forming, so there are no marine deposits or clays here, just the primary siliceous slate and schist with threads of quartz. The weathering of the rock over time means the soils are quite rocky and open, so they drain well and retain heat, useful with Styria being the wettest wine region in Austria and the elevation here of 500 to 520 metres above sea level.\u003cbr\u003eThe climate is Illyrian-Mediterranean. The Illyrian influence is humid air drawn up from the Adriatic sea and Balkan corridor, carrying most of the yearly rainfall of 900 to 1000mm or so. This precipitates significant fungal pressure for the vines, making the steep gradient, which is in some places 70%, particularly important, helping to drain standing water very quickly. The Sausal's exposure is also useful here, with steady airflow naturally reducing the risk enough that the Schnabels' treatments of minimal sulphur and kaolin, alongside their herbal tisanes, are robust enough to mitigate the conditions and protect the vines. The tisanes are brewed from nettle, horsetail and yarrow gathered in the vineyards themselves, in a thousand litre kettle. The meadows on the estate provide the plants for their biodynamic compost preparations, chamomile, nettle, yarrow, oak bark, dandelion and valerian, with the cattle providing the manure. They use a scythe to cut the grass beneath the vines, but allow the rows between to grow free.\u003cbr\u003eThe southerly exposition of these vineyards, and the heat retaining stony soils, facilitates a warm microclimate that helps ripening, despite the cold nights at this altitude. The Mediterranean influence is visible too, with wild thyme growing on the barren, rocky slopes, to the point that visitors often remark on the similarities. The sites are managed as biotopes, and Karl and Eva have also installed nesting sites and stone mounds that promote animal presence, with water carried up to the sites, which have no running water of their own. The conditions allow them to wait at harvest time, as picking at full ripeness is their preference, with everything brought in by hand.\u003cbr\u003eAt the cellar, the influence of Karl's time in Burgundy is apparent. The reds are destemmed and fermented spontaneously in open wooden vats, with pigeage by hand. They don't use must pumps at any stage. Usually the maceration lasts 10 to 14 days, and after pressing the wines age in used 228 litre Burgundian barrels for about 12 months. Nothing is added at any point, with no chaptalisation, fining, filtration or sulphur addition. They clean their bottles with spring water before bottling by hand and use natural cork of the highest grade as closures. The cellar is cleaned with hot water and nothing else.\u003cbr\u003eIn 2020, Gault Millau named them Ausnahmewinzer des Jahres, with their Blaufränkisch Koregg 2017 taking 18.5 out of 20, in the top 10 reds of Austria. Karl's own verdict on the honour was that it had been a long and stony road.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom 15 year old Sauvignon Blanc vines growing at 450 metres above sea-level in the Hohenegg vineyard, in Leutschach. The particular parcel in Hohenegg has gradients of 60%, so is incredibly steep. Opok is a Slovenian name, signifying their proximity to the border, that describes the calcareous marl that underpins the top vineyards for Sauvignon in the region, formed from limestone and clay that solidified under the Miocene Sea. The vineyard is about 15 kilometres from the estate, yet the soils are 12 million years younger than the slate and schist at Ermihof, holding the water and releasing it steadily to the vines while keeping vigour low. The alkaline soils also help the variety hit the full ripeness we find here, while retaining its acidity, which is so fundamental to the structure of these wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sauvignon Blanc\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sausal, Styria, Austria\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Weingut Schnabel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703596882,"sku":"26\/000521","price":42.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-legionarin-2023.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"m-m-blanc-2022-es-daqui","title":"M\u0026M Blanc 2022 - Es d'Aqui","description":"\u003cp\u003eMuscat and Mauzac from sandy, limestone soils around Limoux. Two weeks of whole-cluster maceration, then ten months in clay jars. Muscat's floral, terpenic aromatics play wonderfully with Mauzac's quincey structure, and we feel a sense of verticality that speaks to the time ageing in clay. As we have come to expect from Jean-Louis, this is lucid and detailed, a perspective on these varieties we shoud see more of.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Louis works from an unassuming cellar below his house in Moulin-neuf, close to Limoux. Trained as an oenologist, he worked at large commercial wineries in the mid-noughties, at one point managing a cellar that produced 160,000 bottles a year. After tasting the wines of his friend Antony Tortul of la Sorga, Jean-louis was convinced to walk a different path, and established his own label the following year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredominantly a micro-negociant, Jean-Louis scouts fruit from remote and isolated vineyards across the South-West, from Gaillac out to Saint-Chinian and further afield, as well as working closely with respected growers like Remi Poujol. A varying portion of his output every year comes from his own vines nearby, depending on the vintage. Bottling under the label Es d'Aqui, meaning \"from here\" in Occitan, Jean Louis reminds us that each of his wines is a singular expression of where they come from. Producing about 10,000 bottles a year, some cuvées in tiny quantities(sometimes as little as 400-800 bottles), Jean-louis' wines catalogue the breadth of intricacies that define southern wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMauzac is an indigenous grape of Limoux, providing the backbone of Blanquette de Limoux and Crémant de Limoux, growing on the sandy limestone soils of the Haute Vallée de l'Aude for many centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mauzac, Muscat\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ariège, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Es d'Aqui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703695186,"sku":"25\/000952","price":33.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_e7545002-6149-4f8b-82f2-a1d0e1821583.jpg?v=1791451431"},{"product_id":"maelys-2021-le-raisin-et-lange","title":"Maelys 2021 - Le Raisin et l'Ange","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom Antonin’s own vines below the cellar, on open Urgonian limestone. Syrah planted by Gilles in the early oughties, picked by hand at a tiny 17 hl\/ha. Twenty-one days of maceration, four fifths destemmed with a fifth in whole bunches, with elevage in stainless.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2021 was a cool, fresh vintage, harvested in mid September, and the wine carries delicate aromatics \u0026amp; real freshness. The palate shows threads of syrah fruitiness but this is really driven by a spine of limestone minerality. Best lightly chilled, allow time to breathe before service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGilles Azzoni left office life in the banlieue of Paris behind in the early 1980s and journeyed south, eventually settling in les Salelles, a remote hamlet in southern Ardèche, in 1983. He took the scenic route south, studying at the agricultural school in Mâcon, after which a spell with Gilbert Violot in Pommard and cellars further south in Bandol and Provence emboldened him to pursue winemaking as his métier. Setting out on his own at 29, Gilles took on a fermage from a retiring farmer, complete with six hectares or so of vines. In those early days, Gilles followed the prescriptions of conventional viticulture as it is taught in the formal schools, making vin de pays and Vivarais VDQS (an extinct level between vin de pays and AOC; Vivarais has since been promoted to AOC status). With the passing of time, the use of agricultural products in his vineyards diminished, and by 1997 he was fully organic. Impressed by how this affected his wines, Gilles extended his philosophy to his cellar work, and by 2007 his wines were made without filtration or sulphur. This would herald the dawn of a vital new chapter for the wines of the southern Ardèche, and Gilles' philosophical approach to making wine, alongside that of his good friend Gérald Oustric of le Mazel, would inspire generations of winemakers and sommeliers to come, none more so than his son Antonin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAntonin, a trained chemist, succeeded his father in 2014, with Gilles continuing to mentor and advise up to 2023, when he finally retired. Having grown up in the cellar with his father, with a rotating cast of winemakers visiting at weekends, Antonin has a palate as sharp as a tack, and this is his primary guide in his work: he follows his intuitions in the cellar and only afterward applies his training in chemistry. More often than not, this confirms what he had expected. He wasted no time in stepping out of his father's shadow, focusing solely on winemaking and continuing to work as his father did in the cellar. Antonin refers to Gilles as his sulphur, with his almost prescient ability to detect problems in the wines before they have appeared. Building on his father's legacy, Antonin encouraged young growers around the region to move to organic viticulture, with the promise that he would buy their fruit to make his wines. And so le Raisin et l'Ange became primarily a négociant house. Gilles kept a couple of hectares for himself, as did Antonin, and the rest was taken over by Samuel Boulay, who had moved into the adjoining cellar from the Loire. This new approach opened windows for Antonin, who could now showcase the diverse terroirs of southern Ardèche and the talents of the region's growers, such as the Ozil brothers and Vincent Fargier of les Deux Terres.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe harvest is intense. Antonin works with a small team to harvest early in the mornings in small crates, and the sight of their iconic yellow Transit zipping through the bending gorges of the Vallée de l'Ibie provokes beeps and hollering as they pass neighbouring cellars. The fruit is sometimes chilled for a day or two at the cellar after harvesting, a technique that helps preserve the fruitiness Antonin cherishes in his wines and precipitates an early, almost pre-carbonic fermentation in the bunches. Conveniently, this also serves as a holding space while the cellar is at capacity! The whites go mainly to the press, sometimes seeing a little time on skins first, and the reds are primarily vatted as whole bunches before pressing in a 1960s Vaslin press from Burgundy. The idea is to make wines that they like to drink themselves: soft and supple in the fruit, digestible, and full of character. Somehow, the languid charms of the region and the winemaker have found a voice in these wines, and the soulful, spirited quality of wines made from well farmed fruit has become their calling card. Antonin always makes the assemblages post fermentation, each year recreating the estate's iconic cuvées like Nedjma from a new configuration of varieties, capturing the typicity of the fruit and the intricacies of the vintage while somehow staying true to the recognisable personality of each wine year after year. Antonin has now taken over Gilles' smallholding of Roussanne, Muscat, and Syrah, along with his tiny cellar below the house, so we're entering a new chapter for this storied estate. With their succulent fruit, effortless drinkability, and irresistible personality, these are wines we always keep close to hand, offering value that has become all too rare these days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis parcel sits below the cellar, across the Gardon riverbed. The open, rocky urgonian limestone makes it tricky to manoeuvre, even by foot, and the vines have to reach deep down into the earth to reach the water and nutrients they need. These tough conditions significantly limit yields, and result in intensely concentrated berries that give deeply coloured must, even with light maceration. Antonin chooses neutral vessels when vinifying this wine, as not to distract from the particularly pure expression of Syrah on limestone this special parcel of vines gives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Syrah (vignes de la maison)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valle d'Ibie, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Le Raisin et l'Ange","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703793490,"sku":"1700430","price":33.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-maelys-2021.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"brutal-blanc-magnum","title":"Magnum Brutal !! Blanc","description":"\u003cp\u003eTerret Bourret, Mauzac, Grenache gris and Muscat petit grain, blended from two terroirs. 25 hl\/ha. Direct pressing for the Terret; long maceration and trempette for the other varieties. Aged in tank for 5 months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA nose of white grapefruit and exotic fruits, with a stony edge. On the palate, mineral character dominates with real tension and length, vine peach and citrus coming through, finishing on the typical saline note of these limestone terroirs. 2,500 bottles produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Terret Bourret, Mauzac, Grenache Gris\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703826258,"sku":"17000410","price":79.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_743b1f5d-d299-4c88-88d0-43bec66abbac.jpg?v=1791451434"},{"product_id":"malas-uvas-2021-la-perdida","title":"Malas Uvas 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eEighty percent Palomino, twenty percent Doña Blanca, from old low-yielding vines on granite and clay close to As Ermitas. After destemming, a short maceration on skins for a week in vats, with some punching down of the cap, then pressing to Padilla tinajas to finish fermentation and rest on the lees for around five months over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRadiant in the glass, with an almost pineapple hue. We find the savoury tropical splash of Dona Branca and the saline, chlorophyllic spice of Palomino. In the mouth there’s great density, mineral compression, and taut line of acidity that brings a bowstring tension to the juice. After 4 years in the cellar, this is really singing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePalomino is not a permitted variety under the Valdeorras DO regulations, and here in the rugged interior of northwest Spain, it certainly feels a long way from home. It was first planted in Galicia post phylloxera, when its high yields and compatibility with american rootstocks made it a preference among local growers. Under Franco (who was himself Gallego), the variety became even more ubiquitous, overtaking indigenous Godello. Its high yields suited the co-operative, volume driven agriculture model of the regime, which promoted the production of cheap wine for bulk export. These associations with Franco linger, and most producers in the DO have grubbed it up or left the old plantings abandoned. By the time Nacho started making wine, these surviving plantings of Palomino were now many decades old, not sprayed with chemicals, growing wild among the grasses and shrubs in abandoned plots. Over time, they adapted to the challenging conditions that vines endure in Galicia's interior and became almost naturalised, with at least three distinct mutations identified. These vines produce tiny yields of concentrated juice, with the roots reaching deep into the granite. Here in the cool altitude of Valdeorras, the palomino retains acidity right through to harvest, while the quartz rich granite reflects heat onto the bunches ripening the phenolics in the thick skins of the berries. Dona Branca is more at home here in Valdeorras, it being a star in the vast constellation of indigenous varieties that grow here in the northwest of the Iberian penninsula. Thick-skinned, it brings a crisp-fruited aromatic lift and a bright acidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalas Uvas means \"bad grapes.\" Palomino on granite, at very low yield, with skin contact and amphora ageing, is not the prescribed practice in Valdeorras. This wine makes us wonder why!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Palomino, Doña Blanca\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703891794,"sku":"22\/003820","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-malas-uvas-2021.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"maitre-splinter-2023-la-sorga","title":"Maître Splinter 2023 - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003ePicpoul from clay and limestone in Marseillan, yields of 30 hl\/ha. A selection of the best grapes, de-stemmed and macerated for 23 days, then aged on lees in clay vessels for 6 months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCitrus, pineapple, and minerals, with subtle herbal detail. Vital and straight on the palate, notes of pear on a long refreshing finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Picpoul comes from Marseillan, right on the Bassin de Thau, a lagoon on the Mediterranean. The vines grow on clay and limestone, getting a maritime influence that moderates the southern heat. Across the lagoon on the flats of Bouzigues and Mèze are bonafide oyster hotspots, well-suited to the lip-tingling picpoul of the lagoon. This is quite apart from that familiar style, with the long maceration giving substance and length to the palate, with sea breeze freshness and subtle complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Picpoul (Marseillan)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703957330,"sku":"25\/000941","price":44.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-maitre-splinter-2023.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"montjoie-2022-la-sorga","title":"Montjoie 2022 - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003eEight-year-old Bourboulenc from the clay and limestone soils of Adissan in the Hérault valley, tiny yields of 24 hl\/ha. Hand-harvested, destemmed, then 44 days of maceration in sandstone jar, pressed, and 9 months in tank. 1,800 bottles produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA distinguished nose of preserved lemon, fresh ginger and propolis. In the mouth we feel big minerality, with malleable tannins persisting through a lengthy finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Antony Tortul began producing wines with his négociant project La Sorga in 2008, the iconoclastic verve of his wines and the contrarian artwork he labelled them with cast the aspiring winemaker as a radical disruptor who held little regard for the time honoured traditions of southern wine. Those who paid careful enough attention, however, came to recognise La Sorga's annual production of 30+ cuvées as a vinous almanac of sorts. Sourcing fruit from Toulouse to Provence and as far afield as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Antony's portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue of Mediterranean France and beyond, offering a revitalised perspective on the rich and diverse viticultural topography of the south, much of which had been subsumed by the paint-by-numbers approach demanded by volume driven production.\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in the Ariège, where he hopes one day to return, Antony learned the fundamentals of winemaking through a chemistry degree in Toulouse. This academic foundation opened windows of opportunity within the industry, and curiosity steered his formative years, working as a nomadic oenologist and cellar technician across Bergerac, Corbières, Fitou and the aforementioned Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here he could put his academic schooling into practice and sharpen his intuitions as a winemaker. Given that experience and the extensive network he had established, the decision to work as a négociant made perfect sense when he set out on his own in 2008. It challenged the idea du jour, that to make wine the proper way one must grow the grapes oneself. The breadth of his work, and its subsequent significance, would have been impossible that way; his preference was to focus on the winemaking, deepening his understanding of the endless configurations of varieties, soils and sites through his practice as a négociant.\u003cbr\u003eI visited Antony and his young family at his cellar in 2021 (they have since moved), and the immaculate cleanliness was the first thing to strike me. It was a transitional period in the La Sorga story, a turning of the page, with Antony refreshing the intention behind his vinification, the reds especially, in response to the changing climate and his own evolving palate. Cuvées like Tireurs des Litres and Grande Pestilence, once deeply telluric and squid-ink dark, built for long ageing, had become lambent and sculpted, channelling the typicity of each site with clear-eyed precision. The decision to pick a little earlier and extend maceration times, inspired by his friend Alice Bouvot in the Jura, opened a new window of expression that has rewritten the rulebook yet again.\u003cbr\u003eIncidentally, Antony was a founding member of Brutal!!!, an open-source wine label now used by vignerons around the world.\u003cbr\u003eThese days, Antony's skilled cellar work and canny grape sourcing are widely recognised and highly regarded, to the extent that he was the subject of a two-page spread in Jon Bonné's recent tome The New French Wine. Not that it makes much difference to him; when I messaged to congratulate him on this inclusion, he was unaware the book even existed...\u003cbr\u003eFor me, the wines of La Sorga provided a sort of onboarding to Southern French wine, holding a kaleidoscope to the region, with each frame glistening as brightly as the last. In the Anglosphere, terms such as wine lake are often the first that come to mind when we think of the Languedoc, but Antony's wines are a key to unlocking this treasure trove, discoverable to anyone who looks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdissan is the home of Clairette du Languedoc, a tiny, longstanding appellation in the hills north of Pézenas. The vines here grow on natural Quarternary villafranchien terraces, with quartz, flint, and limestone pebbles in sandy clay. The tramontane blows down fro the hills, and a cooling breeze from the coast blows through these vineyards too. Clairette du Languedoc has been shipped from the nearby port at Sete since antiquity, but Bourboulenc is also an old variety of the south with its parentage still unknown. It’s phenolic-rich thick skins and racy acidity are amplified by the conditions in this pocket of the Hérault, and though it the parochial synonyms like Grosse Clairette, Clairette dorée and, Clairette dorée à Paulhan have caused confusion between the varieties, there is no mistaking this thrilling example of the variety.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bourboulenc (Adissan)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Montagnac, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Sorga","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704055634,"sku":"1700411","price":33.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-montjoie-2022.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"o-pando-orange-2021-la-perdida","title":"O Pando Orange 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eGodello Viejo from the O Pando vineyard. Planted in the 60s on sandy granite soils, these give incredibly low yields of small, tight-fisted bunches. The fruit was destemmed, before 5 days of skin contact in vats. After pressing, the wine aged in Padilla tinaja, with a portion of the skins submerged in the fermenting juice over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes of wild fennel, ginger, parsley stems, tepache, and propolis, the palate is drenched with minerals, and we find the fleshy, savoury fruitiness that is the signature of this older clone of Godello.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eValdeorras sits in the Sil river valley in the province of Ourense, where the river cuts through the mountains of interior Galicia on its way west toward the Atlantic cutting an operatic landscape of valleys, terraces and hills. The dominant geology is pizarra, the dark fractured slate that defines the best parcels in the valley, breaking down slowly into thin, mineral, free-draining soils that force vines deep for water and give the wines their characteristic saline, stony character. O Pando sits on granite and clay rather than slate, at around 500 metres, which gives Nacho's Godello more body and textural weight than wines fro the valley floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGodello was brought back from near-extinction in the 1970s by a small group of local producers who found surviving plants in abandoned vineyards and used them to repopulate the region. The vines they saved were old, low-yielding plants, selected over generations for their ability to survive in these soils rather than for commercial output. The clones subsequently grown were selected for higher yields, ripen more evenly, and give less concentrated juice. Old vine Godello viejo from parcels like O Pando produces small quantities of thick-skinned, concentrated fruit that behaves differently in the cellar. Those thick skins allow for these long macerations in tinaja(though they're not commonplace by any means), with enough tannins and material extract in the fruit to stay the coarse and create a wine of substance and complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Godello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704252242,"sku":"1700007","price":38.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_721c8ec9-f455-4aab-bee4-21f0522d5ac1.jpg?v=1791451437"},{"product_id":"o-poulo-2021-la-perdida","title":"O Poulo 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eGarnacha Tintorera from the O Poulo vineyard, with a dash of Palomino that grows in the bottom corner of the site. 80-year-old, low-yielding vines on slate. The destemmed fruit begins fermentation on skins in open vats. Nacho removes the materials by hand as fermentation progresses. This helps keep a balanced extraction, with Nacho preferring his reds to have structure and substance but also good drinkability. The juice is then pressed into old chestnut and French oak barrels to finish fermentation and rest over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA deep inky purple from the Garnacha Tintorera, but with that subtle freshness and salinity of Palomino. Light on the palate, but with firm tannins, that hit of pink peppercorn spice, and resonant minerality on the finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGarnacha Tintorera is a teinturier variety, meaning its pulp is red-pigmented rather than just its skins. This was what gave the variety its historical value as a blending tool, adding colour to high-volume wines of the Franco era. It was planted widely across Spain under his regime for exactly that purpose, and has been largely treated as a workhorse grape. In Valdeorras, Nacho's old-vine parcels are among the very few places it is being taken seriously as a variety in its own right. O Poulo takes its name from a Galician word meaning uncultivated or marginal land, which describes this dramatic, exposed site at 650 metres of elevation. The progressive skin removal technique he uses here is distinct from carbonic maceration and from conventional extraction, capturing early aromatic lift and colour without accumulating the tannin that extended whole-berry fermentation would give. The Palomino in this wine grows in the bottom corner of the vineyard, so this is a single-vineyard wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Garnacha Tintorera, Palomino\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704317778,"sku":"1700009","price":39.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-o-poulo-2021.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"ostia-2021-es-daqui","title":"Ostia 2021 - Es d'Aqui","description":"\u003cp\u003ePure Chardonnay from Castelreng, on the clay-limestone soils of the upper Limoux valley. Direct press, no skin contact, aged on lees in a stoneware jar (Jean Louis likes these for their slower, more gentle oxygen exchange).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA taut, mineral-driven wine that shows more limestone than Chardonnay, lean \u0026amp; citrus flecked, with a polished stone grip from the time in ageing in clay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Louis works from an unassuming cellar below his house in Moulin-neuf, close to Limoux. Trained as an oenologist, he worked at large commercial wineries in the mid-noughties, at one point managing a cellar that produced 160,000 bottles a year. After tasting the wines of his friend Antony Tortul of la Sorga, Jean-louis was convinced to walk a different path, and established his own label the following year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredominantly a micro-negociant, Jean-Louis scouts fruit from remote and isolated vineyards across the South-West, from Gaillac out to Saint-Chinian and further afield, as well as working closely with respected growers like Remi Poujol. A varying portion of his output every year comes from his own vines nearby, depending on the vintage. Bottling under the label Es d'Aqui, meaning \"from here\" in Occitan, Jean Louis reminds us that each of his wines is a singular expression of where they come from. Producing about 10,000 bottles a year, some cuvées in tiny quantities(sometimes as little as 400-800 bottles), Jean-louis' wines catalogue the breadth of intricacies that define southern wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCastelreng sits on the upper Aude, in the Limoux appellation territory, on clay-limestone soils that produce wines with a particular kind of pointed, mineral acidity. The clay-limestone gives lower potential alcohol and the cooler-climate signature you get from the Pyrenean foothills. Ostia is among the more direct, nervy wines from Jean-Louis' cellar, and how he vinifies fruit from this site, quite differently from almost all his other wines, tells us something in itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chardonnay (Limoux)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ariège, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Es d'Aqui","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704416082,"sku":"24\/001219","price":29.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_839bfda5-03e1-467c-a693-3074453e74cc.jpg?v=1791451440"},{"product_id":"parellada-2023-jordi-llorens","title":"Parellada 2023 - Celler Jordi Llorens","description":"\u003cp\u003eParellada that was destemmed and macerated for a week, with temperatures controlled. After pressing the wine spent 6 months in amphora on lees. \u003cbr\u003eAll the vibrance and sapidity we love in Jordi's wines. This year we find lime zest and leafy herbs on the nose, with a concentrated core of fruit that surfs a lithe, well ripened acidity. Just 1200 bottles produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJordi Llorens is an eighth-generation farmer at his family's estate in Blancafort, with paperwork showing that their family have been here since 1779. It is a quiet municipi on the southern slope of the Serra del Tallat, in the central part of the Conca de Barberà. The family has always farmed organically, growing their vines as part of a wider polycultural system that included fruit trees, nut trees, olive groves, and livestock. Up until Jordi returned home to take over from his father in 2007, the family sold their grapes to the local co-operative, as was the conventional practice at the time.\u003cbr\u003eSeeking a deeper understanding of his family's work, Jordi completed a degree in Geology before returning home. These academic underpinnings complemented the intuitive methods his family had followed over generations, to the extent that his old friend Manel Aviñó of Clos Lentiscus once advised me that nobody understood the terrain of these hills like Jordi. Because the family had farmed in the old polycultural traditions of the region, there was already a rich biodiversity in their vineyards when he took over. Jordi's use of biodynamic methods was inspired by his friend and contemporary Joan Ramon Escoda, who had adopted the practices at his own estate in the preceding years. Above the soil, the rich biodiversity protects the vines and the soil from the increasingly arid conditions in Blancafort. Underground, Jordi cultivated a rich mycelial network that helps keep the soils healthy.\u003cbr\u003eJordi's original cellar, a cramped garage at the edge of the town, was where his family's fruit was vinified under its own name for the very first time in 2008. Today, the cellar is expanded somewhat and kept in pristine condition. Stainless and fibre tanks are used for the short, gentle macerations Jordi prefers. Through a small door, Jordi keeps a cool, compact room for ageing, with amphora sunk into the gravel underfoot and barrels and demijohns lining the walls. Work at the cellar is carried out with patience and ease, and Jordi employs gentle temperature control during fermentation to preserve the delicate aromatics we love in his wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate itself is Situated on the eastern Ebro basin. The soils here formed about 35 million years ago and can be broken into three distinct layers each exposed at different points across the estate. The oldest layer is blueish-white calcareous sandstone, with the majority of the white varieties planted on these outcrops. Next we have red marl, useful for water retention through the hot summers. The top layer is gypsum, which helps to keep the soils open and breathable. With the cool nights at this elevation helping to keep the ripening even, we have this fascinating configuration of conditions that Jordi articulates in such delicate detail in his wines. With 16 hectares in total, Jordi produces about 12000 bottles or so per year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eParellada’s naturally low sugar has long been a fly in the ointment for Cava producers, who vinify the majority of what's harvested. It’s a thin skinned and particular variety that reaches it’s potential in still wines on clacareous soils at altitude, as we find at Jordi’s estate. This particular site has soils that are incredibly alkaline, yielding juice with and edgy freshness, rounded out by time ageing in 800L amphora that are over 150 years old.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Parellada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Celler Jordi Llorens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704481618,"sku":"1700074","price":31.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_ef6a498f-4a5b-48d9-9d29-51e2ee99b57e.jpg?v=1791451441"},{"product_id":"pause-canon-blanc-2023-le-raisin-et-lange","title":"Pause Canon Blanc 2024 - Le Raisin et l'Ange","description":"\u003cp\u003eViognier is the protagonist in this, the last ever Pause Canon Blanc, as Antonin is reducing his cellar and retired the Pause Canon wines from 2024.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarsanne(20%), Muscat(10%), Chardonnay(20%), and Villard Blanche(10%) complete the blend, with an average yield of 40hl\/ha. The Viognier macerated in whole bunches for 5 days, while the remaining varieties went straight to the press. Everything fermented separately in steel before assemblage and elevage in steel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGilles Azzoni left office life in the banlieue of Paris behind in the early 1980s and journeyed south, eventually settling in les Salelles, a remote hamlet in southern Ardèche, in 1983. He took the scenic route south, studying at the agricultural school in Mâcon, after which a spell with Gilbert Violot in Pommard and cellars further south in Bandol and Provence emboldened him to pursue winemaking as his métier. Setting out on his own at 29, Gilles took on a fermage from a retiring farmer, complete with six hectares or so of vines. In those early days, Gilles followed the prescriptions of conventional viticulture as it is taught in the formal schools, making vin de pays and Vivarais VDQS (an extinct level between vin de pays and AOC; Vivarais has since been promoted to AOC status). With the passing of time, the use of agricultural products in his vineyards diminished, and by 1997 he was fully organic. Impressed by how this affected his wines, Gilles extended his philosophy to his cellar work, and by 2007 his wines were made without filtration or sulphur. This would herald the dawn of a vital new chapter for the wines of the southern Ardèche, and Gilles' philosophical approach to making wine, alongside that of his good friend Gérald Oustric of le Mazel, would inspire generations of winemakers and sommeliers to come, none more so than his son Antonin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAntonin, a trained chemist, succeeded his father in 2014, with Gilles continuing to mentor and advise up to 2023, when he finally retired. Having grown up in the cellar with his father, with a rotating cast of winemakers visiting at weekends, Antonin has a palate as sharp as a tack, and this is his primary guide in his work: he follows his intuitions in the cellar and only afterward applies his training in chemistry. More often than not, this confirms what he had expected. He wasted no time in stepping out of his father's shadow, focusing solely on winemaking and continuing to work as his father did in the cellar. Antonin refers to Gilles as his sulphur, with his almost prescient ability to detect problems in the wines before they have appeared. Building on his father's legacy, Antonin encouraged young growers around the region to move to organic viticulture, with the promise that he would buy their fruit to make his wines. And so le Raisin et l'Ange became primarily a négociant house. Gilles kept a couple of hectares for himself, as did Antonin, and the rest was taken over by Samuel Boulay, who had moved into the adjoining cellar from the Loire. This new approach opened windows for Antonin, who could now showcase the diverse terroirs of southern Ardèche and the talents of the region's growers, such as the Ozil brothers and Vincent Fargier of les Deux Terres.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe harvest is intense. Antonin works with a small team to harvest early in the mornings in small crates, and the sight of their iconic yellow Transit zipping through the bending gorges of the Vallée de l'Ibie provokes beeps and hollering as they pass neighbouring cellars. The fruit is sometimes chilled for a day or two at the cellar after harvesting, a technique that helps preserve the fruitiness Antonin cherishes in his wines and precipitates an early, almost pre-carbonic fermentation in the bunches. Conveniently, this also serves as a holding space while the cellar is at capacity! The whites go mainly to the press, sometimes seeing a little time on skins first, and the reds are primarily vatted as whole bunches before pressing in a 1960s Vaslin press from Burgundy. The idea is to make wines that they like to drink themselves: soft and supple in the fruit, digestible, and full of character. Somehow, the languid charms of the region and the winemaker have found a voice in these wines, and the soulful, spirited quality of wines made from well farmed fruit has become their calling card. Antonin always makes the assemblages post fermentation, each year recreating the estate's iconic cuvées like Nedjma from a new configuration of varieties, capturing the typicity of the fruit and the intricacies of the vintage while somehow staying true to the recognisable personality of each wine year after year. Antonin has now taken over Gilles' smallholding of Roussanne, Muscat, and Syrah, along with his tiny cellar below the house, so we're entering a new chapter for this storied estate. With their succulent fruit, effortless drinkability, and irresistible personality, these are wines we always keep close to hand, offering value that has become all too rare these days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAntonin's Pause Canon series attempt to capture the spirit of southern Ardèche wines while supporting the burgeoning community of organic growers across the region. Antonin wanted to step out of his father's shadow when taking over at le Raisin et l'Ange, and so set up this négociant business to highlight the seeds or progress people lie his father Gilles and Gérald Oustric has sewn inthe early noughties. The Viognier comes from Antonin's friends the Ozil brothers who are widely respected growers in the region and do some vinify their own wines too. Their state is in Lagorce, close to Vallon Pont d'Arc. The viognier comes from clay-limestone soils. The Marsanne and Roussane Antonin inherited from Gilles, formally used to make his Les Larmes de Sanglier and Monteau. they grow above the cellar on Urgonian limestone. The Chardonnay comes from pioneering grower and winemaker Vincent Fargier of Les Deux Terres, growing in mirabel on clay and limestone. The Villard Blanc is an old hybrid, grown in the Cévennes ardechois at 400masl by Jean-Benoit Plagnol.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Viognier(40%), Marsanne(20%), Chardonnay(20%), Muscat(10%), Villard Blanche(10%)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Les Salelles, Ardèche, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Le Raisin et l'Ange","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704612690,"sku":"26\/000650","price":25.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-pause-canon-blanc-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"pierre-de-sisyphe-2022-les-bories-jefferies","title":"Pierre de Sisyphe 2022 - les Bories Jefferies","description":"\u003cp\u003eBoth varieties grow on the basalt and limestone that surround caux, growing predominantly in gobelet and a small portion trellised. \u003cbr\u003eSea Breeze saltiness on the nose, with minerals and lime leaf. Sinuous on the palate, with big mineral compression, this has a fleshiness of a ripe white peach on the palate. A beaming acidity  keeps things fresh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWine writer Aaron Ayscough described this cuvée as a Grand Cru of the Hérault, with its intensity, depth, and complex structure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoe’s introduction to wine came via legendary vigneron Bernard Bellahsen, from whom Joe bought bread at a local market. When the opportunity to take charge of 3 hectares of vines from his father-in-law presented itself, encouragement from Bernard, along with Julien Peyras and Antony Tortul of la Sorga, emboldened Joe to accept.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe went back to study winemaking in Montpellier, and despite the guidance of his well-seasoned mentors, initially worked with an oenologist and made wines to ‘the Languedoc recipe’. Robust, bold, reds with big tannins and high alcohol conformed to the status quo, and whites that received filtration and generous sulfitage. Growing frustrated with his inability to find the unique terroir of Caux in his wines, and endless arguments with the oenologue on his books, Joe began to practice the methods of his early mentors, ceasing debourbage post press, filtration, sulfitage, and, scandalously, began vinifying the reds with carbonic maceration. In the vines, the work is far beyond the requirements of organic, and his treatments in the vines are minimal and preventative rather than responsive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 12 years, Joe’s wines have become definitive of the new Languedoc, utterly elegant and vital while retaining the Mediterranean soul and ripe fruit of southern France. They are remarkable wines that detail the breadth of possibilities one can uncover in the Languedoc.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the spirit of his mentors Bernhard Bellahsen and Antony Tortul, Joe showcases here the dynamism of these long overlooked varieties and their capacity for greatness on the right sites. Where lava once flowed from the Volcan de Beaume into limestone valleys, these hardened flows today form the hills on which Joe's vines grow, outlasting the limestone that is now dispersed in chunks around them as they grow. Referred to as a Grand Cru of the Hérault by wine writer Aaron Ayscough, this cuvée has a sinuous tension and luminous vitality that is deeply mediterranean, allowed to realise its potential through Joe's delicate work in the vineyard and cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Terret Blanc, Terret Gris, Ugni Blanc\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Caux, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Les Bories Jefferies","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704645458,"sku":"25\/000866","price":33.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-pierre-de-sisyphe-2022-2020.jpg?v=1793699097"},{"product_id":"proscrito-2021-la-perdida","title":"Proscrito 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is Palomino with a dash of Garnacha Tintorera, from old vines. Destemmed, co-fermented on skins for about five days in vats, then pressed to old chestnut and French oak barrels to rest over winter. 11.5%.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomewhere between cherry red and pale copper, this is a true mountain clarete, with an impressive nose of green tomato, rose petal, pomegranate, and cherry stone spice. A nervy acidity steers the palate, with saline sapidity and a light brush tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth the varieties in Proscrito sit outside the Valdeorras DO's permitted variety list, which is where the name(outlaw) comes from. Palomino was planted across Galicia under Franco for high-yield bulk production and Garnacha Tintorera was planted for similar reasons, with its pigmented pulp useful for adding colour to cheap blends. The majority of these vines have been pulled up or left to abandonment. Nacho works with these old plantings, producing small quantities of concentrated fruit the DO has no use for, which is a irony of sorts. The clarete style itself is an old Iberian tradition, distinct from rosé in that the red and white grapes are co-fermented together, just as they grow together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Palomino \/ Garnacha Tintorera\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704678226,"sku":"22\/003822","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-proscrito-2021-2020.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"renaissance-de-loeuf-2020-cyril-alonso","title":"Renaissance de l'Oeuf 2020 - Cyril Alonso","description":"\u003cp\u003eSpectacular Gamay from a steep half hectare of ancient vines on pink granite in Marchampt. Ancient varieties co-planted in gobelet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMacerating in whole bunches for 5 days, the juice was then pressed into 2 clay 160L eggs to age over winter sur lie. From a solar vintage, a thread of granite minerality has found its voice after 5 years in bottle. A true taste of history. Best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA couple of years ago, 1.5 hectares of steep vines in Marchampt, Beaujolais were on the market, going some months without an interested buyer. The sloping parcels are home to almost 140 cultivars of vitis vinifera, and had been a conservatory for the grapes of Beaujolais for 50 years. Many forgotten and ancient varieties grow here, including several Lambrusques, wild ancestors to the cultivated vine. It was a unique opportunity for Cyril \u0026amp; Karine Alonso to work with old, ungrafted vines and explore the antique characteristics of overlooked clones and varieties. Now installed in Marchampt, the family hope to establish a Noah's Ark of vines and highlight unsung varieties that for whatever reason have not made the cut in the modern commercial vineyard. Their wines are truly unique, documenting a history of wine in the region outside the world of auction houses and 5 figure sums. They echo the world from which the Beaujolais of today has emerged, re-examining expressions in wine deemed unworthy by historical tastes or, perhaps more often, viticultural practicality. An enchanting, telluric power is woven through the wines and sensitive handling in the cellar allows them a clear, evocative voice. The grapes are harvested by family (one plot has 31 varieties of Gamay) and most often end up coming together in blended wines. The steep parcels are on hard granite, with grasses and weeds between vines providing a shallow humus that nourishes the vines. With twenty years experience as a negociant winemaker, this is the start of a new chapter for Cyril, Karine \u0026amp; the family. They have established a self sufficient living system in Marchampt, as dependent on the land as possible, making small releases of these wonderfully intriguing, esoteric wines. Across the valley from his vines, Cyril's cellar is as lo fi as it gets. A small press, which all the grapes of his tiny 7000 bottle annual production pass through, sits right inside the entrance followed by a handful of small fibre vats. At the back of the cellar sit four eggs, half buried in gravel and this is where the fermentations take place. The cellar looks out onto dense biotope, protected wooded areas that seem to crown the hilltops along the undulating countryside. The parcels themselves are on steep and shallow granite soils with a southerly and easterly exposure. They don't really stand out, until you notice the vines growing in the midst of wild mint, thyme flowers and grasses. There are many, many varieties growing on this hectare and a half, in fact 108 and counting (not including the lambrusque vines growing on the verges of the cellar itself). As we walk, Cyril claps to alert the snakes to our presence, stopping briefly for some impromptu pruning or to point out a particularly rare or unusual variety. The red leaves belong to pinot fin, and the young vine is the Chardonnay Rosé, yet to be old enough to yield grapes for wine. A veteran winemaker with a mischievous sense of humour, Cyril has meticulously mapped the vines and where they grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eNestled deep in the western hills of the Beaujolais vert, these vines from this 0.5 hectare parcel were planted in 1952 by the ampèlotheque that preceeded the Alonsos arrival. The soils are quite literally solid, pink granite bedrock, with a thin layer of humus, wild shrubs and grasses growing between the vines. The parcel is steep, growing in low trained gobelet, indeed you can barely distinguish the plants from the vines in the height of summer. We’re at about 450masl here too, protected from harsh winds by the biotope across the valley. The varieties tell a rich history of viticulture in the region, with noir a jus blanc Gamay present in several distinct clones, the teinturier Gamay vines - Gamay de Bouze from the Cote d’Or, Gamay de Chaudenay from Saone et Loire, and Gamay Fréaux, with the even more obscure Gamay de Troye also growing here. We also find Gamay Gloriod, Picard, Geoffray (which is grown widely today in the production of quality Gamay), Cibella, Direct, Malain, Ancenis, Piccolo, Figuette, and Plant-Robert, a variety identified in the 1920s as a distinct mutation of Gamay growing in Vaud soils in Lavaux, Switzerland. The clay eggs for which the cuvée is named stand upright in gravel as can be seen in the photo above taken during a cellar visit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gamay\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Marchampt, Beaujolais, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Conservatoire de Vignes Anciennes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704809298,"sku":"1700161","price":50.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-renaissance-de-l-oeuf-2020.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"samodia-rosso","title":"Rosso 2025 - Samodia","description":"\u003cp\u003eAll of the grapes were harvested together and de-stemmed by hand. A 10 day maceration followed, before ageing in concrete through winter and spring. An arboreal freshness on the nose, with red berries and rhubarb, meadowsweet and pink peppercorn. All suppleness and fluidity in the mouth, with a thread of cherry stone bitterness. An appetising red, best served lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSamodia is a collaborative winemaking project founded by Jacopo Stigliano and Flavio Restani, both born and reared where their project is based, Valsamoggia, a valley in the foothills of the Apennines in Emilia-Romagna. Samodia is the old Latin name for the valley, a historical reference that tells the story of what these inspired friends aim to achieve through their work. Existing at the frontier between Bologna and Modena, the valley is a melting pot for the viticultural traditions of the wider region, preserving in its vineyards a tether to Valsamoggia’s viticultural past. Taking inspiration from the old masters of the region, Antonio Ognibene, Giorgio Erioli and Vittorio Graziano, Samodia represents a passing of the baton of sorts, carrying the gestures developed over millennia in both the vineyards and the cellar, forward into the next generation. The first vintage for Samodia was in 2023, when the pair rented three hectares of vines at the top of the valley, between 400 to 500 masl, on the limestone and clay soils that predominate here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir idea is to produce three wines each year, a red, white and sparkling. In this approach they oppose the commodification of wine and the faddish forces that shape contemporary wine discourse. They make vino per tutti, made the old way, using the old techniques inherited from the generations gone by. With many of these old vineyards being uprooted and replanted with tillage, or simply abandoned, their work is vital to the preservation of this valley's identity in the face of encroaching homogenisation and urbanity. Producing just 13000-20000 bottles a year, these are among the most rewarding wines we've tasted in recent years. They are wines for any occasion, as intended.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eValsamoggia's position in the foothills of the Northern Apennines situates these vines on marine limestone folded into layers of ancient clay and marl driven to the surface during the chain's formation. At the top of this valley the soils drain well and the evenings run cooler, aiding even ripening in this hot climate. We are at a significant confluence of disparate regional traditions here, a story told by the varieties planted. The two Lambruscos, Grasparossa and Maestri, come from the Modenese side. Flavio is well used to working with these in his sparkling project, Agrikoi. The Sangiovese was absorbed from the traditions of Romagna. Negrettino is an indigenous variety, rarely seen outside this valley. Its skin is a deep black colour, as the name suggests, and it produces wine with fruity aromatics and firm tannins. Barbera has been grown here for some time, and up here on these elevated sites it shines brighter than elsewhere in the region.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Barbera, Sangiovese, Lambrusco, Negrettino\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Valsamoggia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Samodia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988705956178,"sku":"170182","price":26.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_74dc8fe3-0e79-418b-aace-912da84cc591.jpg?v=1791451450"},{"product_id":"syrah-crv-brut-nature-clos-lentiscus","title":"Syrah CRV Brut Nature - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eSyrah from Vinya la Francesca, planted in 1987. Pressed gently, giving a bold cherry blush, before fermentation in old oak with indigenous yeasts. Rosemary honey from the estates Apiary was used for secondary fermentation in bottle. 25 months on the lees before disgorgement with zero dosage. This is now singing, with the primary cherry character developing a peppery, earthy complexity. The bubbles remain, keeping this bright and vital.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a visit in March 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines - the estates first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12ft down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, as to not introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, over looking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project. Inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming Manel. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with it’s phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora play a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7-10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled seperately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite this vintage being widely described as the worst in Catalunya since the 1940s at the time, the fruit was harvested in pristine condition from vinya la Francesca, the site where this grows. On anything other than limestone, Syrah in these hot conditions could never achieve the detailed structure and elegant expression we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Syrah\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988705988946,"sku":"1700480","price":40.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-coleccion-crv-rose-brut-nature.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"terre-a-boire-2023-leo-dirringer","title":"Terre a boire 2023 - Leo Dirringer","description":"\u003cp\u003ePinot Noir and Pinot Gris (20%) from the valley below Léo's cellar in Dambach-la-Ville, on alluvial soils. Whole bunches vatted for 5 days, then 8 months in concrete vats.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpry fruits and subtle spice on the nose. This lives up to its name with a distinctivly mineral timbre. Light red, best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first met Léo at the Sommerfascht in Alsace in 2021 where his wines stood out among the 60 odd producers for their purity, verve, and digestibility. I arranged to visit him at his cellar in Dambach-la-ville and have been back on many occasions since. \u003cbr\u003eLéo’s family have been making wine at their old cellar, situated in the former residence of the counts of Mullenheim, since the 16th century. Today, the estate includes 14 hectares on the manganese-rich granite hills above the village and the plains below. The family’s wines, bottled under the Ruhlmann-Dirringer labels, are highly regarded in the region, achieving repeated acknowledgement from Guide Hachette coups de couers, Guide Pudlowski, a Trophée d’Excellence in 2007 and a Grande Medaille d’Or in 2011, with the top score in the Riesling du Monde category. \u003cbr\u003eLeo, born in 1992, studied viticulture in Montpellier before a formative apprenticeship with Marie-Therese Chappaz in Valais, whose committed practice of biodynamics impressed the young student. It was a tasting of the 2011 Chalasses Marnes Bleue from Jean-Francois Ganevat that convinced Leo to implement a more radical approach to his vineyard work and cellar. Building on the legacy his parents had established, he shifted the entire estate to organics when he returned to take over in 2016, carrying on his family’s work while establishing his own project in a subterranean cellar below his father’s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his own wines Leo seeks the purest expression of Dambach-la-ville that he can achieve using large concrete vats to vinify the fruit from the plains, and large foudre or barriques for the fruit from the vines above the village growing on granite. The whites are succulent and of breadth, with a balance of volume of fruit and mineral density that has become a signature of cuvées like Pur Jus and Grande Soif. His Pinot Noirs are vinified with carbonic maceration, often witha splash of Auxerrois or pinot Gris to add freshness, complexity, and volume. They are firmly Alsatian, but with an elegance and purity that is reminiscent of the Alpine Pinot. Having access to his family’s cellar and vineyards, Léo’s wines are among the very best value you’ll find in Alsace...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite being the largest producer of wine in Alsace with 450 hectares under vines, Dambach-la-ville’s quaint medieval streets remain quiet through the busy tourist season. Perhaps the cobbled streets that wind through the tilting buildings are too narrow for the tour buses. Nevertheless, the town is a thriving viticultural economy, built on the traditions of cooperage and winemaking that were established in the Middle Ages. The most prized sites are on rocky granite soils, south\/south east facing on sheer sloping parcels on the foothills of the Vosges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dambach-la-Ville, Alsace, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Léo Dirringer","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706021714,"sku":"17000205","price":26.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-terre-a-boire-2023.jpg?v=1793699097"},{"product_id":"tu-2021-cantina-giardino","title":"Tu 2021 - Cantina Giardino","description":"\u003cp\u003eOld vine Aglianico with other indigenous varieties, short maceration and neutral wood ageing. Hibiscus, amaro, and rose petal on the nose with a lightning bolt acidity that makes this incredibly refreshing. Magnum only. Incredible value. Good with grilled fish, light pasta, or a long summer lunch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTechnical notes: A short maceration of old vine Aglianico and other indigenous varieties, aged in neutral wood. A bright surge of hibiscus, amaro, and rose petal on the nose, with chiselled minerality, toothsome fruitiness, and a lightning bolt acidity on the finish. Incredible value. Rosé. Magnum only.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cantina Giardino","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706185554,"sku":"170108","price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-tu-2021-tu-2022-giardino.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"where-black-is-the-colour-where-none-is-the-number","title":"Where black is the Colour, Where none is the Number 2021 - Les Bories Jefferies","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarignan and Cinsault harvested together from Joe’s plot on villafrachian soils littered with basalt scree. Six days of whole bunch fermentation, before pressing off to finish fermentation in tank. The wine was then racked to age for one year in tank, before a further 2 years in old oak casks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA luxuriant nose with black cherry, currants, and minerals. In the mouth, everything feels round and integrated, owed to the longer time in wood. Supple fruit volume, salinity, citrus, and bitter herbs in a complex structure of fine tannins, minerality, and acidity. Sublime from Joe!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoe’s introduction to wine came via legendary vigneron Bernard Bellahsen, from whom Joe bought bread at a local market. When the opportunity to take charge of 3 hectares of vines from his father-in-law presented itself, encouragement from Bernard, along with Julien Peyras and Antony Tortul of la Sorga, emboldened Joe to accept.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe went back to study winemaking in Montpellier, and despite the guidance of his well-seasoned mentors, initially worked with an oenologist and made wines to ‘the Languedoc recipe’. Robust, bold, reds with big tannins and high alcohol conformed to the status quo, and whites that received filtration and generous sulfitage. Growing frustrated with his inability to find the unique terroir of Caux in his wines, and endless arguments with the oenologue on his books, Joe began to practice the methods of his early mentors, ceasing debourbage post press, filtration, sulfitage, and, scandalously, began vinifying the reds with carbonic maceration. In the vines, the work is far beyond the requirements of organic, and his treatments in the vines are minimal and preventative rather than responsive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 12 years, Joe’s wines have become definitive of the new Languedoc, utterly elegant and vital while retaining the Mediterranean soul and ripe fruit of southern France. They are remarkable wines that detail the breadth of possibilities one can uncover in the Languedoc.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 0.7 hectare plot is on smooth quartz pebbles that once formed a riverbed where these vines grow. The basalt comes from the Volcan des Baumes, an extinct volcano that erupted 1.5 million years ago, scattering loose chucks of basalt around Caux. On these soils the yields of Carignan are low, and Joe’s use of whole-bunch fermentation reveals its hidden finesse and complexity. The Cinsault brings an elegant fruitiness and mineral density that brings the concentration of carignan into balance. The name of the cuvée is from Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, something winegrowers in the south find themselves hoping all too frequently these days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Carignan, Cinsault\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Caux, Languedoc, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Les Bories Jefferies","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706349394,"sku":"22\/004090","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_1295c051-1087-4358-81ed-0b6d7b0af25e.png?v=1791451458"},{"product_id":"xarello-domaine-2017-clos-lentiscus","title":"Xarello Domaine 2017 - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eXarello from La Mascarona, planted in 1939 on calcareous sands. Twenty-four hours of skin contact before pressing, with fermentation and ageing for a year in old French oak barrels. Layered, with sun-warmed citrus, a fine minerality, and an unfurling complexity that showcases the class of this variety from the best sites.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a visit in March 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines - the estates first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12ft down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, as to not introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, over looking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project. Inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming Manel. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with it’s phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora play a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7-10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled seperately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Xarello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706382162,"sku":"1700485","price":63.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_7b670a28-595d-4f8b-a753-211ab31a141d.jpg?v=1791451459"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.brianswines.ie\/collections\/all-wines.oembed?page=5","provider":"Brian's Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}