Philippe Pibarot, "Suko" 2020

Producer Profile: Since 2001, Phillipe Pibarot has been at the vanguard of the southern French natural wine renaissance of sorts. Working in the gentle foothills outside the small commune Mus, of the northern Languedoc, Philippe has been focusing – vintage after vintage – on the nexus between naturally vin de soif characteristics in young wines wildly fermented and the more robust, spiced elements of Languedoc terroir, expressed through some of southern France’s bolder, classic varieties such as Mourvedre and Syrah. Rather than ascribing to any one ideological school, Philippe dubs himself a “conscientious craftsman” though by any account these are unadulterated, pure, natural wines that have served as a lodestar for organic and biodynamic growers of the northern Languedoc for nearly two decades.

Vinification & Tasting: A blend of Mourvèdre, Clairette and Carignan from organic and biodynamic vines grown on limestone in the Languedoc. After a hand-harvest, the grapes are lightly pressed into stainless steel and ferment with wild yeasts. Then, the wine spends 6 months in large old oak barrels, and is finally bottled unfiltered, unfined, with no SO2. A delicate, minerally, floral wine that falls somewhere between a light red and a dark rosé. Serve chilled.