Maxime-François Laurent Côtes du Rhône Blanc 'Pantomine' 2020

2020 Côtes du Rhône Blanc 'Pantomine', Maxime-François Laurent is another new wine, lot's going on with Maxime and Michele since they renovated their cellar a few years ago. This superb wine is a blend of 50% Grenache Blanc and 50% Bourboulenc - this has a discrete nose, mineral, lemon and faint note of garrigue. Fresh, dry and fruity in the mouth; it is very uplifting - crisp, tight and long. Salty and tense on the finish. A great white debut from Maxime! 

About the producer: The iconic Domaine Gramenon originates back in 1978 when Philippe Laurent and Michele Aubery-Laurent purchased 12 hectares of vines and an old barn. The first wine produced was in 1979 and was the first vintage of their now iconic and cult 'Ceps Centainaires'

This original part of the domaine is located at 300 meters above sea level on a rare limestone bench.  Over the years the domaine has expanded to 25 hectares by planting more vines, purchasing 4.5 hectares of plots in Vinsobres in 1999, and land in nearby Valreas in 2007 (now sold) and Taulignan in 2019.  Today the estate is run by Michele Aubery and one of her children, son Maxime-Francois Laurent. 

The estate is officially certified Biodynamic by Demeter (since 2009) but has been farmed in a bio-organic manner since the mid 1980's. As their vineyards are isolated from others they do not have to worry about any cross-pollution from their neighbours spraying.

THE WINES
The fruit is fermented without sulphur using indigenous yeasts. Everything is moved by gravity, there are no pumps.  Some cuvees are aged in vat and others in old demi-muids and foudres. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration with only some cuvees receiving light amounts of sulphur. Andrew Guard Imports