Ceci n'est pas un vin White 2023

Ceci n'est pas un vin White 2023

La Tribu Alonso

Ceci n'est pas un vin is still a wine, white, dry, organic, and natural, with no added sulfites. Made in Beaujolais by Cyril of La Tribu Alonso, it is classified as a Vin de France. It is 100% Chardonnay, but there are twenty-eight different varieties in the bottle. Just as the red wine Ambre dissolve is inspired by Salvador Dalí, this one obviously alludes to Henri Magritte (see the label).

Vinification

The collection of twenty-eight Chardonnays from the ampelothèque, from which Ceci n’est pas un vin is made, is planted on a half-hectare plot on granite, with wild grass, agroforestry and no tillage. The vines, pruned in the goblet style, are between four and thirty years old. There are Chardonnays here of all tastes and colors (white, pink, muscaté, etc.), and it seems that the multiplicity of grape varieties gives a whole new face to this Chardonnay, unfortunately a little overused in the world of viticulture. "We are moving away from the boring Chardonnay," says Cyril. The manual harvest goes into direct pressing and, after a 48-hour settling process, only sees from the vat to its bottling. Alcoholic fermentation without starter culture using indigenous yeasts, malolactic fermentation also in fiberglass vats. Zero chemical inputs, in the vineyard and in the cellar, and zero added sulfites.

Tasting

Surprisingly, Ceci n’est pas un vin: the opposite of classic Chardonnay, it has great qualities of resistance. Solid, fine and balanced. A dry white wine with no added sulfites that has a very long shelf life once opened, it is rare and unique. It can last, recorked, for a whole week. On the nose and palate, it is a marvel of perfume and aroma, as if it offered the quintessence of Chardonnay through all its varieties. Salty, iodized, aromatic and floral, it evokes peach or apricot blossom, white peach, and its acidity-alcohol balance will allow it to be kept between 5 and 7 years. It can be drunk whenever you want, with oysters, shellfish, raw or smoked fish, tapas, fine starters and any elegant and refined cuisine.

Learn more about the Alonso Tribe

This tribal name refers to Cyril Alonso, winemaker, his wife, naturopath, and their family. They take care, using organic farming methods, of a conservatory of traditional grape varieties from the Rhône-Alpes region located in Marchampt (Rhône), in the heart of the Beaujolais Vert region. This two-and-a-half-hectare ampel library, which has existed since 1952, contained forty grape varieties. It currently contains one hundred and forty. This unique location gives the Tribu Alonso wines their particular style. Instead of being single-varietal microcuvées, they are quite the opposite: wines by grape variety family, either a Chardonnay containing all the Chardonnays of the house or a multi-Gamay Gamay.

A biotope classified in 2008

The estate enjoys a unique ecological location: the house and the vineyard are surrounded by untouched forests, on the steep terrain of northern Beaujolais. Three rivers cross it, and the vines, close to the bedrock, capture all the minerality of the soil. Organic farming is practiced and the work, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, is entirely manual, without the use of any chemical additives or sulfites in the winemaking process.

The wines

Cuvées of co-plantation (and for good reason), the wines of the Tribu Alonso embrace all the complexity of their grape varieties and the viticultural history of Beaujolais. These are carefully crafted wines, made with great care, fermented and aged to the sound of Tibetan bowls, whose alpha waves are beneficial to the liquids. The vatting periods are short, to preserve the freshness and fruit, as well as the signature of the soil and grape varieties.