Arbois Blanc, Melon, “La Fauquette”

Always the greatest of Michel’s white wines, “La Fauquette” (from soils of marne bleu) spends four years in 400-liter barrels without being topped up. Despite the marked influence of the voile, however, it is the most elegant of Gahier’s whites: viscerally salty and rich, but with the finesse of great Corton-Charlemagne. Called Melon, the vines are of the local variety of Chardonnay known as “Melon à Queue Rouge”, a white grape the skin color of which bleeds towards red as it approaches the stem.