Clos des Mourres, "665 Jours" 2018

This is a supple, young, spiced white from Ingrid and Jean-Philippe Bouchet of Clos des Mourres who work ~8 hectares of vines around Cairanne in France's Southern Rhône.

Tasting Notes: A honeyed, golden-hour introduces the wine on the nose that gives way to some distinctly southern french aromatics (garrigue, spearmint, rosemary +thyme) before a palate that carries medium body with brightening acidity. Solidly balanced and eminently drinkable, a white blend that can certainly stand up to some heftier dinner fare.

Vinification: 60% Grenache Blanc, 20% Clairette Blanche, 20% Bourbonlenc hand-harvested from young vines (~10-15 years-old) grown atop sandy soils with gravel and clay-limestone subsoils. The grapes undergo spontaneous fermentation with solely ambient yeasts (no temp. control) in vats before large oak casks and finally jars and eggs in stoneware. Élevage is ~12 months, malolactic fermentation is completed, and there is minimal SO2 added at bottling. Unfined, lightly filtered.