Organic and Biodynamic

When Zind-Humbrecht acquired the Clos-Saint-Urbain vineyard on the Grand Cru Rangen in 1977, about half of the land wasn’t under vines and needed to be planted. This very steep vineyard requires a lot of hard manual work and some surfaces were left abandoned in the middle of the 20th century. Most vintages, the vines planted in the 70s and 80s are separated from the very old vines that qualify as Grand Cru. This wine clearly show all the originality of a volcanic geology which is unique in Alsace. They are also cultivated the exact same way as the older vines (ploughing with a winch for example). The biggest difference would be on the crop size. The Roche Volcanique is made with low yields, but the older vines produce even less! For these ‘younger vines’ they aim for very healthy grapes (no noble rot) in order to achieve a dry wine. For some unexplainable reason, the wines from this vineyard also tend to ferment fast and would keep little residual sweetness, as is the case here in 2019. Pale yellow colour. The nose exhibits the classic smoky/flinty character so typical of the volcanic soil. Medium intensity but with a strong sense of place. As much as the nose is still slightly closed, the palate shows power and intensity with a persistent saline texture. This is a very dry wine with a relatively strict mouthfeel but high drinkability. The combine effect of a great acidity and mineral composition create a long lasting mouth-watering finish. Not a complete Rangen Grand Cru, but really not far from it!

Outstanding value cuvée made from grapes from Clos Jebsal, Clos Windsbuhl, and Heimbourg. Pinot Gris grows particularly well on limestone soils. The palate it rich and creamy with a velvety texture and the wine is a tiny bit off-dry. Pale yellow straw colour. The nose shows the great pedigree of the vineyards it originates from, delivering complex fruit aromas (peach, nectarines, quince) as well as an underlying minerality. It is also quite showy at this young age and will continue to open up with time. The 2019 Roche Calcaire has a beautiful velvety mouth texture that shows great energy. The acidity brings harmony and makes the wine taste actually quite dry and delicate.

Vilarnau Rosé Delicat Brut Reserva Organic is a pale pink CAVA. Very intense, it offers great aromatic complexity. On the nose, it displays the primary aromas that are typical of a delicate rosé cava: the subtleties of violets ad roses in combination with ripe red berries: strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. On the palate it is smooth, very creamy, fresh and elegant.

Leclerc Briant’s flagship wine exemplifies the House’s style, and the blend (40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay) is sourced from organic and biodynamic vineyards. The nose offers notes of candied citrus, green apple, apricot and almond, while the palate is full of freshness and salinity, with a chalky, mineral finish. Spearheaded by Hervé Jestin’s inventive, inspirational winemaking, this extraordinary house has reinvented itself over the past decade. Cynics might dismiss Hervé’s wilder ideas (such as under-sea cellaring) as marketing ploys, but the ideas here are rooted in respect for nature.

This wine is ruby red in colour with violet hues. On the nose, there are intense aromas of black and red fruits, with a touch of mint. This wine is concentrated and complex, with soft, round tannins and a great freshness on the finish.

A pure Malbec from Agrelo, with the pleasant and unctuous aromas and textures of the area, a place of heat that gives such gentle malbec, with hints of spice, with that round and juicy fruit, warm and expansive, but above all that creamy sensation. on the tongue.

An off-dry Riesling, this is a virtual fruit salad of mandarin, white peaches, crisp apples, lemon blossom, a hint of sherbet and a dollop of honey. Bright, natural acidity balances the subliminal touch of sweetness. This wine has intense aromas of cirtus blossom, apple, white-fleshed nectarine, mandarin and a wild-yeast derived gunflint and lanolin-like savouriness. An invigorating off-dry style that delivers a great balance of natural acidity with a subliminal touch of sweetness.

An opulent sweet wine made from Botrytis affected grapes evoking dates, sun-dried figs, orange zest and quince paste intermingled with rosehip syrup and Middle-Eastern spices. Mouth-watering acidity balances the luscious sweetness (110g/l RS). A patisserie-like mélange conjuring notions of dark orange marmalade, tarte tatin and honey crème brûlée infused with hints of lapsang souchong. A decadent and voluptuous interpretation of Pinot Gris that is richly flavoured with poached quince and dried fruits – a luscious sweet wine with elegant structure and a clean lingering finish.

"A blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Marselan (a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache originally intended for widespread planting in the Languedoc, now becoming the possible signature grape of China and even permitted in Bordeaux Supérieur wines as of 2019). Vivid red colour. Moderate aromatics. Light, chewy, and approachable."

Plump, round, joyful expression of Grenache.. Black cherries dominate, but there is enough herbal complexity to suggest garrigue, and hints of espresso add depth to the finish. Medium to full-bodied, it should be enjoyed over the next few years, while it remains juicy and fresh. This is a terrific bargain from a modest, family-run and organically farmed estate.

Violets, dried herbs, pencil lead, plums, berries OTP smooth med tannins and acidity, black licorice stewed plums

Blackberry, liquorice, pepper, blueberry, leather and oak. very impressed by this wine, dark berries, full body and nice integrated oak.

"Robust and fruity. Hot, but sumptuous. Though there is some dried fruit (prune, etc.) identifiable, it is not overpoweringly so. If anything this adds complexity. The acidity gives the wine beautiful poise."

Possibly the last Rosé to be produced at Trinités? The wine has always been produced for the home market, for the restaurants and bars, in all the major cities. But since the market for such in the last few years has dried up/been somewhat difficult, vigneron Simon Coulshaw has decided to take a break for a while. This 2020 is unlike any previous effort, mostly explained below in Tamlyn Currin's note for jancisrobinson.com. It really is truly wonderful Rosé with real minerality, precision and class. an absolute stunner. 40% Cinsault, 40% Grenache Noir, 20% Mourvèdre. Hand-picked, organically and biodynamically farmed grapes. 100% saignée ie no pressing, just bleeding from the tanks. Winemaker Simon Coulshaw points out that the distinct difference in colour between the 2019 and 2020 (the latter being distinctly lighter in colour) is purely down to the maturity of the anthocynanins in the grapes. In 2019 he left the grapes for an hour and the colour was already dark; in 2020 it spent three or four hours and still didn't throw much colour. Bone dry (less than 0.5 g RS). "This is an outstanding rosé. If only Languedoc producers would sit up and take notice – this is what you can do with rosé. Real wine. Real depth, real texture, acidity so full and exciting and ripe that it made me want to helter skelter, go boogie on Brighton Pier, lick seashells dipped in raspberry sherbet, make cherry bombs filled with lime sorbet and eat them sitting fully clothed in the sea with salt on my tongue and fingers and toes. All of which sounds like fun fun fun, but don't be deceived. This is a serious wine, framed in spice and pink-grapefruit-peel bitterness. Very Good Value (TC)". Score 17/20 jancisrobinson.com When to drink 2021 - 2023 Published on 29 Nov 2021 Date tasted 29 Nov 2021

Debuting in 2020, Dom. des Trinités La Lumière is a full maceration wine made from beautiful fruit from and outstanding single vineyard. It is intense, mineral thrilling and utterly satisfying. Grab this limited production wine before all the plaudits start flooding in. Soil and climate: The vines are planted on the highest vineyards of the steep north facing slopes in the beautiful foothills of the Cevennes mountains in an isolated position surrounded by nothing other than herbaceous shrub and woodland. The soil is a combination of schist and basalt boulders keeping a freshness and bright acidity in these deep rooting vines. Harvest and vinification: All the grapes are handpicked 2 weeks after the grapes used in the Imaginaire from the highest point in the vineyard (350M) and provide a yield of between 15 and 20 hl/ha and undergo a rigorous triage both at the vineyard and the winery. The small 15kg crates of fruit are taken straight to the winery where they are put in to tanks and left on their skins for 21 days under a nap of Carbon Dioxide at 8°C before being gently pressed. After 48 hours of cold settling the juice is racked-off the grape solids, then allowed to ferment at low temperatures (12 - 14 degrees centigrade). A carbon dioxide nap is also used throughout the entire fermentation process to avoid excess oxidation. Wild ferment, no use of enzymes or any other fining products. Tasting notes: A delicate white blossom, tangerine skin nose gives way to a rich, textured and multi-layered mouth feel, providing lush fruit with hints of lychee and grapefruit developing in to some green olive and almond on the finish.

Glorious old vine Mourvedre from the wonderful Yves Falmet (who is as vegan as his wines). Yves has a single, steep vineyard of old vine varieties planted in southern Saint-Chinian. Mourvedre cannot be used 100% and be called Saint Chinian, so this is a Vin de France. Silky, fine and long, with vibrant fruit, great balance and perfect ripeness. An amazing value wine. "Yves Falmet is doing something so special that people should be sitting up and taking notice. I’m becoming convinced that he is making some of the most elegant wines in the Languedoc. His 2020 Mourvèdre is yet another confirmation of his almost wizard-like ability to make a cashmere silky, jewelled-fruit wine out of a grape that I usually find stomps in heftily, wearing a scowl, muddy steel-toe-cap boots and thick dark canvas overalls, smoking a Gauloises, smelling of farmyard and uttering not much in an unintelligible mutter. This wine smells of jasmine, violet and pomegranate molasses. Sure, there is a lick of smoke, but it’s folded into deeply sweet dark fruit – blueberry, black fig, blackberry – and a sheath of tissue-paper-and-600-thread-cotton-textured tannins". Very Very Good Value. Tamlyn Currin on jancisrobinson.com 17.5/20 jancisrobinson.com

This is lovely, gluggable Nero d'Avola from a sustainable winery in Sicily that is making excellent value certified organic wines for everyday drinking. We'll drink to that!

This is lovely, gluggable Nero d'Avola from a sustainable winery in Sicily that is making excellent value certified organic wines for everyday drinking. We'll drink to that!

Laure Dubois runs this excellent estate with her husband Romain and started conversion to organic farming in 2019. The wines they produce are consistently good and elegant, mainly from the Lirac appellation, north West of Chateauneuf-du-Pape but also this Cotes du Rhone from just outside. The 2019 is the second year in a row that the wine has won a coveted Coup de Coeur top award in the Guide Hachette, the 'bible' of French wine. Charming, 'irresistible' and ready to drink it also offers outstanding value for money.

Fruity, brambly and supple, this distinctly Argentinian Malbec will impress with generous lashing of plum, blackberry and hints of vanilla spice. About the winery Bodega Sottano was founded in 1890 by Mr. Fioravante Sottano who settled in Mendoza after moving from Italy. Today the estate is a byword for quality, modern Mendoza wines that express a delicious sense of place.

Pieropan is probably the top producer in the region. Their Soave Classico is, well, classic. This is a fresh and expressive Soave, with classic aromas of white flowers, almond blossoms, marzipan and a touch of citrus. Rounded, ripe fruit is perfectly balanced by a fresh, clean acidity. Long and fragrant, it has a note of fine, almond pastry on the finish.

Succulent and plush on the nose, with spicy oak and ripe, rounded fruit. Peppery persistence on the finish. Firm, chewy structure. Meat and black pepper on the length.

Dense.herbal and oaky aromatics unfold elegantly onto a full-bodied, powerful and lush palate. It is full of plush fruit and muscular, thunderous power in an old-school style. There is a lot to enjoy here all the way to a long finish lengthened by fine tannins and piercing acidity. 98 points Decanter Magazine

Romain runs a tiny 1.5 hectare estate in Gard, in the southern Rhône region. Since his first vintage in 2018 he has slowly acquired more land, meaning there is more wine available for us. Romain spent 7 years working with winemaker Eric Pfifferling at Domaine de L’Anglore, prior to that assisted Matthieu Vallée at Château Yvonne. Romain works, mostly, with Carignan, Grenache and Syrah, and vinifies in old wood using little to no sulphur. His wines are about drinkability and he is really showing mastery of carbonic maceration. Incredible and extremely limited wines, from a rising star in the South of France. Pousse Cailloux is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Ugni Blanc. All whole bunch and with the linear character we see through all Romain’s wines.