Olivier Pithon, "Mon P'Tit Pithon" 2021

Olivier Pithon quite literally grew up in the vines. Various producer profiles around the internet have described him as starting to tend his family's vines when he was 14! These vines, however, were geographically quite far from where he's been situated for a while; having grown up in the Loire Valley's Layon, a flatter, humid sub-region in the west of the valley known, particularly, for its sweet wine production, Olivier has long worked in the French south in the wine-crazy hamlet of Calce. Finding his way there, however, took him across some of the country's viticultural hotspots. Leaving home at 18, he traveled thru Bordeaux before the Beaujolais & Jurançon, seemingly circling where he'd end up. The internships and apprenticeships undertaken in these various spots (as different from one another as can be) resulted in a totally unique point of view when it came to winemaking -- somewhere between and betwixt classically structured wines with aromatic flair & purity of fruit, the Roussillon seemed like a proper place for someone who'd been a bit restless prior. For over 20 years now, Olivier has quietly produced some of the finest and most subtly beguiling wines in the village of Calce (home to many a winemaker's-winemaker), from biodynamically farmed vines overlooking the town on a schistous, limestone plateau.

Calce, Côtes Catalanes, France. Equal parts Grenache Noir, Syrah & Mourvèdre sourced from multiple organic vineyard sites close to the winemakers. Fermented with wild yeasts in cement and stainless steel tanks, and then rested for 7 months. Unfined, unfiltered, no SO2. A classically-structured wine with aromatic flair & purity of fruit.