Cul Sec Blanc 2020

Cul Sec Blanc 2020

Thierry Alexandre

A splendid wine, sumptuously fine and fresh—and it's a Vin de France. The texture is silky and rich, with notes of fresh apple and white peach. Great elegance and purity, a magnificent balance between fruity, floral, and mineral notes. Produced biodynamically and under the Vin de France appellation, Cul sec blanc is the faithful expression of its terroir in the northern Rhône Valley: it is made from Viognier and Marsanne grown biodynamically on granite and gneiss soils in Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, on the banks of the Ardèche near its mouth. The harvest is entirely manual, in small containers, and no inputs are used in the vineyard or the winery. The grapes stay in a cold room while awaiting direct pressing, which is done slowly and gently to extract the best from the fruit. This step is followed by settling, after which the must goes into stainless steel vats to ferment with natural yeasts. The aging is one year, also in stainless steel vats.

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Thierry Alexandre produces little (two hectares in Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, in Ardèche, and a few vines north of Crozes-Hermitage), but he produces well and carefully, all biodynamically and without additives in the vineyard or cellar. His bottles are in the Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage blanc and Vin de France appellations. The grape varieties are typical of this northern Rhône Valley: Marsanne, Roussanne, Syrah, Viognier. The estate rests on quite varied soils, mainly decomposed granite, as well as gneiss, sandy clay and loess. He practices semicarbonic fermentation in whole bunches for fairly long periods and aging, depending on the vintage, in stainless steel or old barrels. His wines are as rare and sought-after as the winemaker is humble and discreet, but there is nothing haughty or inaccessible about them: pleasant, warm, fluid and well balanced between fruit and mineral, they are wines of pleasure that should be reserved for the most friendly gatherings.