Macabeu Orange 2022

Only ever so slightly orange, this very special wine was not produced out of a desire to follow a trend, but as a special request from my ramblers.

The grapes are hand-picked from one of my tiny vineyards known locally as Le Colombier. The vines are 60 years old and are probably one of the last vineyards of this grape variety in the village of Tuchan. Macabeu was widely planted in the neighbouring village of Paziols to make a sweet wine but the Tuchanais preferred to plant Grenache to make their Vin Doux Naturel.

We feel extremely lucky to have this vineyard which we work organically and just asked the vines to produce a small amount of grapes each year - the flavours are concentrated and powerful with a surprising acidity for macabeu. We keep the yields low by thinning the shoots in the spring and the poor, dry farmed, limestone clay soils also help to limit production on this otherwise vigourous grape variety.