2023 Magnetic North

Chenin Blanc from two dry-farmed, ungrafted (own-rooted) parcels growing on a high mountainous ridge at 520 m on very red, iron-rich, sandy soil over red clay. The two parcels are quite close together on a gentle south-east-facing slope. One was planted in 1984, the other in 1981. Together they comprise about 2.8 ha. Yields are between 1 and 2 ton/ha. Hand-picked, hand-sorted, whole-bunch pressed. Lightly settled cloudy juice (no additions) undergoes spontaneous fermentation in one foudre and one concrete egg. Fermentation lasted about one month. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further five months prior to bottling. RS 1.9 g/l, TA 5.9 g/l, pH 3.32. The scent of rain on old red bricks. A cubist wine. Sun and soil and roots and wind and fruit and rain reassembled into a liquid of geometry. Both vertical and horizontal. A wine that slices spaces into strata. A pleochroism – different colours from different angles. Salted lemons. Coriander and fennel flowers and tarragon. Truffle. A spine of obsidian. Nails down a chalk board. The way your mouth waters before a thunderstorm on a hot, still, dusty day. Spell-binding power. (TC)