{"title":"Orange","description":"\u003cp\u003eSkin-contact whites, anywhere from a few days to a few months on the skins. Some sit closer to white wine, some closer to red. Texture and tannin shape are how I think about them, and most come from old or recovered indigenous varieties.\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":"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":"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":"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":"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":"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":"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":"blan-danzera-2023-celler-jordi-llorens","title":"Blan d'Anzera 2023 - Celler Jordi Llorens","description":"\u003cp\u003eThough digestible at just 10.5%, we have a ripe fruit profile and breezy poise that speaks to Jordi's family's centuries-long stewardship of these old vineyard sites. From an edifice of calcareous minerality we find heady notes of citrus fruit, bush herbs and ginger biscuit, with a bright acidity and polished-stone tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e chicken tagine with apricots, or grilled sardines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMacabeu with 10% Moscatell from vines growing at 450 metres above sea level in clay and limestone. The fruit was crushed by foot, macerated for 6 days, and was bled off into amphora to age 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 name here refers to the amphoras in which the wines age, 'white of the amphoras’. The tradition of making brisat wines, or pulp macerated wines, was strong in the areas surrounding Tarragona, almost due south of Blancafort on the Mediterranean coast. Amphora, or engerra as they are known in Catalan, were traditionally used for olive oil, and were more commonly associated with winemaking in La Mancha. Today, things look a little different, and they form the bulk of Jordi’s vessel portfolio. Regarding the Moscatell, two clones are commonly grown in Catalunya, and Jordi grows both. Moscatell de gra menut (Muscat blanc à Petits Grains) is preferred for higher quality wines, with its small berries and high toned aromatics. Moscatell d’Alexandria, the one used here, has larger berries and yields juice with a more exuberant perfume. The vintage this year was incredibly challenging, with drought hampering conditions throughout, though Jordi’s fastidious vineyard work rewards us with the elegance we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Macabeu, Moscatell\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":54988706709842,"sku":"1700620","price":31.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blan-d-anzera-2023.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"cotillon-des-dames-2024-jean-yves-peron","title":"Côtillon des Dames 2024 - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of 60% Altesse and 20% each of Jacquère and Roussanne, from 0.8ha of south-facing vines aged eighteen to fifty years, growing on Albertville mica-schist and Fréterive limestone scree. Separate vinifications, with macerations running fifteen days to a month and elevage in foudre and 300L casks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Altesse, Jacquère, Roussanne\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Conflans, Albertville, Savoie, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988708151634,"sku":"170875","price":52.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/cotillon-des-dames-2024-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452516"},{"product_id":"cotillon-des-dames-reserve-2019-jean-yves-peron","title":"Côtillon des Dames Réserve 2019 - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe triptych of Jacquère, Altesse and Roussanne, from 0.8ha of south-facing vines planted eighteen to fifty years ago across Albertville mica-schist, Fréterive limestone scree and Chignin limestone. Assemblage of various macerations, between fifteen days and two months, before aging for three years in 300L barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Altesse, Jacquère, Roussanne\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Conflans, Albertville, Savoie, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988708249938,"sku":"170880","price":69.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/cotillon-des-dames-reserve-2019-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452516"},{"product_id":"els-bassots-2024-celler-escoda-sanahuja","title":"Els Bassots 2024 - Celler Escoda-Sanahuja","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom a special parcel of Chenin Blanc growing on the slopes of Tossal Gros. A totally unique timbre to this Chenin, with its expansive structure and mineral resonance. 10 days of skin contact brings gentle tones of herbs and spices, with ripe fruits, cavernous minerality and marked length.\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\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eChenin Blanc planted by Joan Ramon in 2000 on the limestone slopes below tossal gros at 450-500masl, including some cuttings from Thierry Puzelat in the Loire. Els Bassots refers to the small ponds that rise through the limestone in basins that surround the vineyard itself. Like on the famous tuffeau and schist of the Loire valley, this Chenin channels the soils underfoot, retaining its definition and poise through the hot climate here thanks to the altitude it grows at. A remarkable iteration of the variety unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Chenin Blanc\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":54988708348242,"sku":"1700093","price":38.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/els-bassots-2024-celler-escoda-sanahuja.jpg?v=1791452517"},{"product_id":"i-vicini-moscato-2023-jean-yves-peron","title":"i Vicini Moscato 2023 - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eMoscato from a south-east facing hectare of 60 year old vines on sandy marl and tuffeau in Asti. Three months of maceration with punch-downs, ageing in 300L barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Moscato\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Asti, Piemonte, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988709101906,"sku":"170915","price":45.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/i-vicini-moscato-2023-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452515"},{"product_id":"la-grande-journee-2023-jean-yves-peron","title":"La Grande Journée 2023 - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the same 0.3ha of vines at Albertville, given two months of maceration with punch downs. Ageing in 300L barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Altesse\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Conflans, Albertville, Savoie, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988709527890,"sku":"170900","price":81.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/la-grande-journee-2023-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452550"},{"product_id":"les-oeillets-2021-jean-yves-peron","title":"Les Oeillets 2021 - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the same east to north-east hectare of fifty-year-old clay-limestone vines at Les Marches, given a month of maceration with punch-downs before aging in 300L and 225L barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Jacquère\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Conflans, Albertville, Savoie, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988709888338,"sku":"170870","price":45.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/les-oeillets-2021-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452550"},{"product_id":"les-oeillets-2021-magnum-jean-yves-peron","title":"Les Oeillets 2021 Magnum - Jean-Yves Péron","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the same east to north-east hectare of fifty-year-old clay-limestone vines at Les Marches, given a month of maceration with punch-downs before aging in 300L and 225L barrels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the time Jean-Yves returned to Savoie to make wine in 2004, he was already a well-travelled student of wine. Growing up between Paris and his mother's home in Annecy, his formative years were spent in the Haute-Savoie, not far from where he keeps his cellar today. After completing studies in biochemistry he went to Bordeaux to study oenology, then on to Oregon as a budding apprentice. Returning to France, he took a job with the legendary Rhône winemaker Thierry Allemand, whose work on the abandoned terraces of Cornas is reflected in Jean-Yves' approach today. He also spent time with Jean-Louis Grippat, a foundational figure in modern Rhône winemaking, in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. Both men farmed the steep slopes of the northern Rhône, and the influence of the two can still be felt in Jean-Yves' work. During his time there he met Hirotake Ooka of la Grande Colline, through whom he came to know Bruno Schueller in Alsace, ending up as his apprentice. He set out on his own in January 2004, picking up old plantings on steep sites his neighbours had deemed too difficult to work. Those first fermentations did not finish until August 2005, a bold debut from a nascent estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJean-Yves' vines grow in Conflans, a walled medieval quarter above Albertville where the Arly meets the Isère. Over a century ago the hillside carried 80 hectares of vines, but phylloxera devastated the region and the industrial expansion of Albertville drew the working population away from viticulture. The pervasive availability of cheap wine from the Midi did not help, and the wines of Savoie came to be considered vins de laboureur. By the time Jean-Yves returned, the terraces were home to mature oaks and in places had been reclaimed by the forest. Where most saw worthless land, Jean-Yves saw Savoie's own Reynard, the great lieu-dit of Cornas from which Thierry Allemand had reclaimed some of his most cherished parcels. Like his mentor, he could see the diamond in the rough and an opportunity to resurrect these old sites. Today he has restored or replanted 2.5 hectares, and with further holdings in Fréterive he farms 4.5 hectares himself. He embarked on the project solo, but the thankless work on these steep hillsides, all of it by hand, made help necessary, and today Briton Camilla Murray works full time with Jean-Yves in the vines and the cellar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Jacquère\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Conflans, Albertville, Savoie, France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jean-Yves Péron","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988709921106,"sku":"170945","price":108.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/les-oeillets-2021-magnum-jean-yves-peron.webp?v=1791452550"},{"product_id":"liath-2023-24-michael-speers","title":"Liath 2023\/24 - Michael Speers","description":"\u003cp\u003eGrenache Noir from old vines growing on rolled calcareous pebbles, grown by Valentin Bourret of Domaine la Rouge Jouvence, in la-Baume-de-Transit. Harvested by hand, the bunches went straight to the press. The wine fermented in tank before racking to a 228L cask to age for a year. In September 2024, Michael pumped the juice onto the pressed skin of Grenache Blanc, and after three days of maceration, the wine was returned to cask. A month later the wine was bottled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClarity and freshness on the nose, with tangerine zest, rosemary, and earl grey. The palate has all the volume of jus à blanc Grenache noir, with a fine frame of tannins from the short maceration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eI first met Michael at a dinner Tom Hayes was cooking at La Roche house in Belfast. He had just returned from Paris, and mentioned during his time in France he had produced a single barrel of wine at the breathtaking Caves Cathédrales, a vast troglodyte cave in Drome.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from County Down, Michael is often on the road, either performing his solo work or touring\/recording with collaborators, most recently Maria Somerville - whose latest album Michael played on - and Olan Monk. Between 2022 and 2024, the budding artist based himself in Paris, where he became ensconced with a group of musicians who shared his love of wine. Frequenting the famous bistros and bars of the city, Michael got to know Antonin Roux, himself a composer, and Aymar Caillol, who runs a Marseille winebar. The pair had just established Vins Mercuriales, a micro-négociant project based in Drome. Michael became a regular at ‘Les Instants Chavirés’ legendary experimental music venue in Montreuil, whose owners, Philippe Bacchetta and Thierry Schaeffer, had assembled an impressive cellar of wines since opening in 1991. Michael’s interest deepened, a feeling many of us are familiar with, and spent the following Autumns helping Antonin and Aymar at their cellar in Drome. When presented the opportunity, Michael bought some fruit himself, and was offered a small spot at the cellar where he could vinify his first micro cuvée, Liath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMichael brought cask samples of the wine back to Ireland, which I had the chance to taste with him during a trip to Belfast earlier this year, at the city’s infamous Menagerie bar. The wine was bottled and labelled in early 2026, and was shipped to Ireland in Spring. On tasting, I remarked to Michael that he had benefitted from beginners luck, but should this considerate artist maintain his form through the vintages to come, we are certainly in for a treat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiath, the Irish for grey, is a play on the a local gris de Provence, a wine from Grenache Noir that’s colour is too pallid to be called a rosé. This was Michael’s attempt to correct the record, though the maceration with the marc of Grenache Blanc has sent this wine in a new direction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Grenache Noir (jus à blanc), Grenache Blanc\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Caves Cathédrales, Drome, France\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Speers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988710084946,"sku":"170859","price":18.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/liath-2023-24-michael-speers.jpg?v=1791452552"},{"product_id":"na-2023-magnum-cantina-giardino","title":"Na 2023 Magnum - Cantina Giardino","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of local varieties Greco, Coda di Volpe, and Fiano, along with Falanghina. 4 days of skin contact before pressing off into concrete to age over winter. A year of ageing in bottle before release.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith more depth and structure than previous years, all the dusky floral aromatics we expect from these varieties, with petitgrain tannins, angular acidity, and the salinity of volcanic soils.\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 regions 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\u003eThese blended, skin fermented white wines were the bread and butter of this region before the DOC system was established and single varietal blocks and wines became the status quo. In a time before temperature control, the structural stability achieved through skin maceration was practical more than anything else. These qualities make these wines excellent for the table, great to pair with a variety of food, and we get all the aromatic intrigue of these southern varieties. The irony is that today, the DOC stipulates that these grapes be vinified as monovarietal, clean, and fresh wines, leaving behind so much of what makes these varieties interesting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Greco, Coda di Volpe, Falanghina\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ariano Irpino, Campania, Italy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cantina Giardino","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988711166290,"sku":"1700715","price":50.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/na-2023-magnum-cantina-giardino.jpg?v=1791452553"},{"product_id":"tireurs-des-blancs-magnum-la-sorga","title":"Tireurs des Blancs Magnum - La Sorga","description":"\u003cp\u003eUgni Blanc (40%, 9-year-old vines), Grenache Blanc (30%, 67-year-old vines), Terret Bourret (30%, 11-year-old vines). Yields of 32hl\/ha. All the fruit comes from the calcareous sands and villafranchien of the Hérault Valley.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ugni Blanc was destemmed and macerated in sandstone jars for 92 days, the Grenache Blanc destemmed and macerated in tank for 33 days, and the Terret Bourret directly pressed. Nine months ageing in tank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA nose of great complexity, moving between stone fruit (plum, apricot, pear) and flint. The palate is dense and full-bodied with great length, finishing on quince, gentle spices and a chalky mineral bite. 2,600 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\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eUgni Blanc, or Trebbiano in Italy, is prized mainly for its acidity, and the majority of what’s grown is used for the distillation of Cognac and Armagnac. The long maceration here is notable, Ugni’s skins don’t bring much to the aromatics of this wine, but add some grip and length in the mouth. Terret Bourret is an old indigenous variety of the Hérault, a variety sometimes described as a sponge for the soils, retaining freshness late into the season. Here Antony pressed the Terret of the skins without maceration, with the skins of terret quite thick and rich in bitter phenolics. The fruity weight and way structure here comes from the Grenache Blanc, and with a 33 day maceration we also get some of the variety’s citrussy, herbal aromatics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ugni Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Terret Bourret\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":54988712444242,"sku":"1700261","price":63.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/tireurs-des-blancs-magnum-la-sorga.jpg?v=1791452552"},{"product_id":"virose-2023-leo-dirringer","title":"Virose 2023 - Léo Dirringer","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne hundred percent Gewurztraminer from granite soils in Dambach-la-Ville, with five days of skin contact before pressing, then eight months in concrete vat. The skin contact and the granite together pull Gewurztraminer out of its usual register: the rose and lychee are still there but behind them is something drier, more savoury, more mineral than the variety tends to produce when direct-pressed on sedimentary soils.\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\u003eThe Gewurztraminer here comes from Manganese-rich granite facing due south. The name here references the persistent presence of court-noué in this lieu-dit, resulting in smaller berries and more concentration in the juice. The manganese helps with photosynthesis, here notable in the bold, terpenic, aromatic prowess of this cuvée year after year, and the mineral density we find on the palate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gewurztraminer, Auxerrois, 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":54988712968530,"sku":"17000195","price":28.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-virose-2023.jpg?v=1793699099"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.brianswines.ie\/collections\/orange.oembed","provider":"Brian's Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}