Hupnos White 2022

Hupnos (exclusive vintage) White 2022

Sous le Végétal

Made from small-grain Muscat, Hüpnos is an organic, biodynamic, and natural wine from the terroir of Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea. This sulfite-free wine is one of five white vintages from Patrick Bouju's "Sous le Végétal" project, exclusively for Culinaries. Its name is inspired by its night harvest, hüpnos meaning "sleep" in Greek. This type of harvest is designed to preserve the freshness of the polyphenols for perfect maceration. The muscats are harvested in the Agii Sarandides and Karvounis areas on the slopes of the volcano that occupies the center of the island. They were obtained using organic farming methods in conversion to permaculture. Pruned in goblet form, they grow on basalt, granite, and limestone soils.

Vinification

The Hüpnos harvest macerates in whole bunches for a month. Vinification is carried out without aeration or stabilization; only pumping over, topping up, and settling are carried out. Fermentation takes place in 500-liter Stockinger barrels. Hüpnos is an unfiltered wine, with no additives or added sulfites, bottled by gravity, and aged in black bottles sealed with black beeswax and paraffin.

Tasting

On the palate, Hüpnos surprises with its fruity freshness while expressing its nocturnal origin and the mineral austerity of its terroir. An aroma of candied fruit diffuses on the palate. The deliciousness and mineral freshness are both present. Decanting is recommended, and as an accompaniment, try grilled fish, white meats (for example a roast piece of Black Pork of Bigorre or Ferme de Mayrinhac.

Learn more about Sous le Végétal

Under the plant lies the mineral: this is the meaning of this concept of natural vintages exclusively from Culinaries, created in Greece, on the island of Samos, by a team gathered around Patrick Bouju. Sous le Végétal also takes under its wing the vintages A la Natural signed Patrick Bouju.

History

Sous le Végétal marks the rebirth of the thousand-year-old vineyard of this island in the eastern Aegean Sea with its dense, wooded vegetation. This rich plant life covers a unique and varied subsoil: volcanic rocks (basalts), limestone, quartz, pink granites, schists, cast iron ferrous… In Sous le Végétal, the winemakers of Samos rediscover the wine they made in their childhood, proving once again that natural wine allows, through innovative projects, to reconnect with forgotten traditions.

Grape varieties and vinification

Four of the seven vintages of Sous le Végétal — Livia, Hüpnos, Octave, Palli & Genesia and Auguste — are produced on around sixty plots of Samos muscat à petits grains between 400 and 910 meters above sea level. The other vintages, Auguste, Alexandre and Sémélé, are respectively based on avgoustiatis, asyrtiko and a blend of Samos muscat and avgoustiatis. Each plot is vinified separately. Four types of vinification containers are used: amphorae, concrete eggs, stainless steel vats and barrels of 500 liters. Each plot is vinified in at least two of the four containers and aged in black bottles sealed with wax. No sulfur is added or filtration is performed.