Chateau Pre Vert, "L'Etincelle" 2018

In the Sud-Ouest of France, within the historic Dordogne department, of course there lies the city of Bergerac, made immortal by Edmund Rostand’s Victorian play – loosely based on a real person of the same name – Cyrano de Bergerac. Though their wines carry no sword play or violent, romantic entanglements nor soliloquys, the wines of Château Pré Vert of Razac-de-Saussignac bear on their labels the name all the same: Bergerac (AOC). Yasuko and Guillame Jacquemin are the braintrust behind this precise, playful, and distinct estate notable in the Sud-Ouest for their wines’ remarkable aromatics and finesse, how they carry something of a (if we are to compare) Loire-Valley freshness to them despite their more southerly location. They are their own wines, though, and here perched above the southern banks of the famed River Dordogne they work in a way that distinguishes their wines – and this one, for instance, from the grape made well-known by the Bordelais, Semillon – due to their vibrancy and slightly oxidative qualities. Wines to be watched from the Southwest of France!

Vinification: 100% organic Semillon. Grapes are hand-picked and pressed into stainless steel where it ferments and rests on the lees until bottling. Unfined, unfiltered with no added sulphur. 

Tasting: L'etincelle, or “the spark,” is made of 100% organic Semillon. Lightly reductive upon opening, with aromas of pecans and fresh bread after a brief rest. Medium-bodied. Golden delicious apples, lemony acidity, fresh cream.