Produced from 15-35 year old vines from two different terroirs. Le Nid, located right below the Château Chalon cliff is from classic marnes gris with broken limestone. The balance comes from Les Lyas, located in Menétru, from pure marnes soil.
The goal of this wine is to show the full potential of Savagnin aged under flore or sous voile without moving all the way into the Vin Jaune category. The alcoholic fermentation takes place in a closed vat using only indigenous yeasts (and flore) and is aged on its fine lees in the same vat for 10 months after which time it is transferred into neutral oak barrels for the second phase of aging sous voile. From this point forward, the barrels are not topped off and a thin mold (flore) forms on the surface of the wine. The wine concentrates through evaporation but is preserved by this natural mold. The Jura and Jerez, Spain are the only regions where this mold will dependably grow on the surface of the wine. After 12 months sous voile, each barrel is tasted and the final cuvée is lightly filtered and blended.
The resulting wine is a pure delight melding the aromatics of almonds, citrus peel, honey and spice. The natural acidity, quite high due to the concentration, makes it exceptionally tense and compelling. |