Mas de Daumas Gassac, IGP St-Guilhem-le-Désert 2020 Blanc

Spring was rainy and cool. A very sunny summer followed, with no rainfalls after early June, but was marked by intense heat last week of August and first week of September. This weather allowed the grapes to reach maturity evenly throughout the vineyard.

Drinking Dates: 2022 to 2030+

Cépagement: 29% Viognier – 24% Chardonnay – 21% Petit Manseng – 11% Chenin Blanc and 14% rare grape varieties. 35hl/ha.

Soil: White Lutetian Limestone.

Upbringing: Skin maceration for 5 to 7 days. Fermentation in stainless steel tank. Aged 2-4 months in stainless steel tanks.

ABV: 14%

'Pale gold. Awkward, at first – needed lots of air. (To be honest, this wine needs lots more time…) So young and unformed, but very intense. This is fisted into a white-knuckled ball of concentration, still angular, but even so, it's a kaleidoscope of layers, flavours, components. The ripeness of golden Cape gooseberries and apricots pushes through clouds of May blossom and angelica flower. Grapefruit and passion fruit, bitter-salty quinine, linden and mimosa florals, honey, wax and lime. On the finish, cardamom and white pepper and chalk linger, dry and insistent. A wine that, even in its cocoon, has weight and presence. When I taste this wine, it feels like a heavy pewter spoon, tarnished into worn beauty, cold, pressed into warm wax, laid on bronze silk. Buy this wine, tuck it into a far corner of the cellar, come back to it in three, four, five years' time.' 17+/20 (jancisrobinson.com)

'Complex nose more redolent of honeysuckle, something floral and Viognier than anything else but the tang and acidity of the Petit Manseng and Chenin kick in on the palate. A thoroughly appetising whole that gives the impression it will age handsomely. A lime note. Admirably long. Seriously interesting.' 16.5+/20 (jancisrobinson.com)