Orange Carbonique 2019 — Chardonnay
£26.00
A Wine That
could be from the deep South of France or the hills of Friuli - Pierre experimented with a tiny bit of Chardonnay and fermented it on its skins - et voila - a wonderful, full-on Orange Wine that reminds us a bit of the great Olla Blanc from Tom Lubbe or some mighty Radikon blend. If you are looking for a glass of sunshine this is the one!
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- Delivery: Delivery and gift wrapping options available at checkout.
- Winemaker: Pierre Cotton
France
Beaujolais
13%
Skin-Contact
Orange
75cl
12°C
Organic
Limestone
Chardonnay
Where and How?
Pierre purchased the Chardonnay for this wine from his friend Loïc Crespin, who grows these vines on fossilised limestone and clay. Whole bunches undergo carbonic maceration for 20 days and are then pressed into vats and aged for eight months. Bottled without sulfites, unfined and unfiltered.
The Winemaker
"I loved motorbikes as a kid and as a teenager," Pierre smiles. "I worked as a mechanic, but I suppose I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life at that age. Who does?"
After a while, Pierre realised that actually he preferred being outdoors to being inside a garage, so he surprised his parents one day when he said that he'd like to take over the family domaine on the hillside of Côte-de-Brouilly in Beaujolais.
At the time, his parents didn't own the estate; they, like their ancestors before, farmed it and produced the wine for the owners. They were able to pull together their savings, and managed to buy the domaine. This allowed Pierre's parents to retire, while keeping a footstep on the path of their family's winemaking history. Young Pierre produced his first vintage in 2014 with the guidance of his father, and today manages all on his own. Terroir is the key to these wines; Gamay is the only red grape variety permitted in the Beaujolais, so with no other variables, Pierre's wines speak distinctly of their soil types. These vary from parcel to parcel, from the blue diorite stones of the Côte-de-Brouilly, to pink granite, to yellow granite, to sand. To best show the natural aromas of the wine, Pierre adds very little sulphur or none at all.
He believes strongly in preserving vineyards and the soil for future generations, and plants young trees together with his baby plantations in order to improve biodiversity.
"Working organically is a moral decision; to guarantee the future of the ecosystem," Pierre explains emphatically.