Stunning one-off Moelleux-style wine from the heatwave 2020 vintage, with some grape bunches showing the potential for high alcohol, even at the very start of the harvest. With a moderate 20g/l of residual sugar remaining, its sweetness is balanced superbly by the soaring acids, making it an ideal companion to a plate of cheeses at the end of a meal. Golden orchard fruit, lemon sorbet, nuts and spices, all with a luscious texture that passes over the palate into a long, beam of coiling acid.
Five years in the making, the wine was in barrel for two years before being moved to glass demijohn for another three. The sugar slowly, slowly worked its way out over this time, but not completely. The gentle oxidative notes meld beautifully with the purity of the fruit, showing yet another guise of the varietal. A meagre 100 bottles were made, with no additions at any stage.
Thomas farms his 3 hectares organically and the vines vary in age from 20 to 80 years old. Sitting directly between the estates of Vouvray royalty, Domaine Gaston Huet and Clos Naudin, Thomas is something of the underdog. Fortunately, they too have been practising organic and biodynamic vineyard work for many years now, so they are good neighbours to have. The soils here differ from the majority of the region in that the limestone dominates over clay, contributing to that tightly-wound coil of acid and crystalline orchard fruit that characterises his wine.
In the cellar the grapes are pressed directly into barrels and given as much time as they need before bottling, with no filtration or additions at any stage. The finished wines span the full spectrum, from sparkling, through fresh and dry to oxidative and demi-sec. We have a couple of wonderful cuvées from the 2020 and 2021 vintages to begin, hopefully with more to follow in the future. They are fascinating expressions of the region that have made a big impression on us - we look forward to sharing them with you too, while they last!
