The Blanc Blanc 2021

The Blanc Blanc 2021,

Patrick Bouju

Auvergne Chardonnay clearly has no fewer stories to tell than that of the terroirs where it is better known: this is a magnificent white wine obtained through skin maceration, aged for eighteen months in barrels. It's a superb wine to drink without hesitation. Boasting a magnificent structure and beautiful complexity, with notes of white fruits (pear, apple), it's particularly suited to food. It will pair well with roasted and grilled dishes: fries, Darphin potatoes, roast chicken, or roasted rack of black pork. Aging potential: ten years. Open twenty minutes before tasting, decant if possible.

To find out more
Near Billom, the Limagne clermontoise rises towards the east to form a hilly area with a mild climate, dominated by volcanic hills. This is the Auvergne Tuscany, so named because of its resemblance to the Italian province. This land of mixed subsistence farming was once covered with vines and was the preferred domain of Gamay d'Auvergne, a robust ancient strain, the origin 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 native grape varieties, of which he cultivates a good fifty, and also 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 a lot to Patrick. The fact that he likes to lend a hand to his winegrower friends in France and elsewhere only confirms his image as a model, a leader. His partnerships are famous: with Action Bronson for the A la Natural series, 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 wines do very well without them. He has also observed that if the grapes are healthy and concentrated, the balance is achieved on its own, regardless of the successive phases a vintage goes through. His noble, chiseled, distinguished, never bland wines are immediately recognizable in the glass. They are straight, clean, precise, often marked by floral notes and a spicy minerality. They also constitute a formidable anthology of the terroirs and ancient vines of Basse-Auvergne and its volcanic soils.