“Hellébore”, Sémillon, Vin de France Blanc

A rich, multi-layered combination of aromas and flavors accompanies this pure Sémillon, picked quite ripe and allowed to naturally ferment and macerate on its skins for 10 months—without any punch-downs or pump-overs or any interference whatsoever—in a single terracotta jar, to which it returns after pressing for an additional 8 months before being bottled without fining or filtering. The tannins are well-integrated and supple, buoying the succulent peach/apricot fruit and counterbalancing the wine’s honeyed qualities, and somehow, amidst all the unfamiliar-to-the-region surface qualities, a profound sense of terroir shines through: a well-structured, saline, maritime character that speaks of its Bordeaux terroir.