L’Étoile, Savagnin, “Les Budes”

From a 1970 planting in grey marl at the upper part of a southwest-facing slope in L'Etoile, “Les Budes” ferments spontaneously and spends 18 months in used 500-liter barrels before being bottled without fining or sterile filtration. Topped up during its elevage, it trades the oxidative breadth of the estate’s traditional Savagnin for a luscious, kinetic interplay of fruit, salt, and ripping acid, and a note of briny umami builds on the wine’s ultra-long finish.