Ex Vero II 2020

A wine that displays such a hauntingly beautiful aroma profile that you won't be able to stop thinking about it, even days after you've finished the bottle. From philosophical thinking comes great wine, and this wine is testament to that. Smoky and mysterious, it's a wine that speaks much more of soil and yeast than it does of bright fruit. If you're a fan of fine Chablis or Sancerre, this is for you.

The vineyards here have been renowned for qualitative wines for centuries; so much so that they were documented in a wine map of the early 1800s. The Ex Vero II cuvée comes from the middle section of the slopes, which are planted on 'opok' soils (the local name for clay with a high degree of limestone), and is half Sauvignon Blanc, half 'Morillon' (the local name for Chardonnay).

The grapes are destemmed and direct-pressed. Time here is the secret ingredient: the wine is aged for 22 months on the lees (sometimes more) in large old oak foudres and bottled with a tiny addition of sulphur, or none at all.