GM White 2021

GM Blanc 2021,

Patrick Bouju

GM offers a superb balance between opulence, perfume, liveliness, and acidity, as well as a definite ability to handle any situation with grace. This is a rich and complex macerated white wine, as desired, thanks to its blend, which is somewhat of a grand écart: Grenache and Muscat from Roussillon, Riesling and Auxerrois from Alsace… Whole-bunch maceration and, above all, aging in terracotta amphorae for one, and in vats for the rest, achieve the harmony of the whole.

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Near Billom, the Limagne clermontoise rises eastward to form a hilly area with a mild climate, dominated by volcanic hills. This is the Auvergne region of Tuscany, so named because of its resemblance to the Italian province. This land of mixed subsistence farming was once covered in vines and was the preferred domain of Gamay d'Auvergne, a robust ancient strain, the source of dense, deep, and fruity wines. This is where Patrick Bouju cultivates and vinifies, on these high-quality volcanic soils and mainly on old vines. The soils vary between basalt, limestone, clay-limestone, and pozzolan. Patrick collects and cares for the best terroirs of Puy-de-Dôme, often abandoned, and gives them new life. He also preserves the native grape varieties, of which he cultivates a good fifty, and simultaneously works as a wine merchant using purchased organic grapes. The current renaissance of the Auvergne vineyard (which was once the third largest in France) owes much to Patrick. The fact that he enjoys lending a helping hand to his winegrower friends in France and elsewhere only confirms his image as a role model, a leader. His partnerships are famous: with Action Bronson for the series A la Natural, with Jason Ligas in Greece for Sous le Végétal… Patrick practices long macerations, and the wines rest for up to six months after bottling. Very sensitive to sulfites in wines, Patrick has found that his own do very well without them. He has also observed that if the grapes are healthy and concentrated, balance occurs naturally, regardless of the successive phases a vintage goes through. His noble, chiseled, distinguished, never bland wines are immediately recognizable in the glass. They are straightforward, clean, precise, often marked by floral notes and a spicy minerality. They also constitute a formidable anthology of the terroirs and ancient vines of Lower Auvergne and its volcanic soils.