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BEL0418WW
Oxymore
2018
Loire
Organic Conversion
Wild yeasts
Low Sulphur
Vegan

Regular price £25.45

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The Loire, France's longest river, is home to many much celebrated and quintessential French grapes. From the once ubiquitous-in-the-UK Melon de Bourgogne by the Atlantic coast, to the home of Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre, via some of the world's best Chenin and crunchy Cabernet Francs, Gamays and Pinots there is quality all around. Being at the northernly limit for winemaking, the wines are hallmarked by their crisp, fresh, crunchy fruit and high acidity, where reds may sometimes struggle to ripen and whites nearly overdeliver on acidity. The 69 appellations that make up the larger region are grouped into smaller sub-regions with predominantly single variety wines leading the way. As you move east the climate changes markedly from maritime to continental as the soils change from flint and limestone to the hard granite of central France.

Jeremie and his wife Claire are third generation winemakers responsible for around 24 hectares of vines (averaging 40 years old) in the Muscadet Sevre et Maine appellation to the SE of Nantes. Found a mere 50km away from the Atlantic the true joy in their wines, and the reason I have taken 4 cuvees from the same one single grape (Melon de Bourgogne), is the variety of soils on which it grows and varying time it spends aging on its lees. Each cuvee is a parcelaire selection to truly express the minerality, finesse and typicity of their soils from; sandy loam, gabbros, clay silicious, gneiss and biotite granite with lees aging ranging from 6 to 24 months. Having travelled the world over, Jeremie and Claire returned inspired by cleaner low intervention farming and in 2014 started the conversion to Organic viticulture.

Tasting note: Concentrated white fruit; and a little stone fruit; with a salty; limey edge running through. High acidity and fine; but not thin; texture. Leaner fruit on the pallet; more lime; green melon; pineapple and crisp pear and a real spiciness. Saltiness; grassiness and a real crystalline structure is all carried through by direct; biting acidity.
Winemaking Detail: Hand-harvested from one plot of 40/50 year old vines on Gneiss. Lightly pressed and then allowed to settle, followed by fermentation on wild yeasts. Fermentation and aging in traditional underground cement tanks lined with tiles, under controlled temperature. The wine is then racked on fine lees with a little battonage, before being aged on lees for 24 months then a further 12 months in bottle.
Features Lemon Pear Honey Mineral Intense

Features High acidity, Honey, Intense, Lemon, Mineral, Pear,
Tasting note Concentrated white fruit, and a little stone fruit, with a salty, limey edge running through. High acidity and fine, but not thin, texture. Leaner fruit on the pallet, more lime, green melon, pineapple and crisp pear and a real spiciness. Saltiness, grassiness and a real crystalline structure is all carried through by direct, biting acidity.
Drink with
Pike, Truffle butter, White cheese,

Wine details

Country France
Region Loire
Producer Batard Langelier
Wine Name Oxymore
Colour White
Style Rich & Full bodied
Vintage 2018
Main Grape Melon de Bourgogne
Other Grapes
Size 6 x 75cl
Closure Cork
A.B.V. 0.12
Production 3000
Aging 24 months on lees
Soil Shallow topsoil on Gabbro
Time to drink Now - 2028
Winemaking Detail Hand-harvested from one plot of 40/50 year old vines on Gneiss. Lightly pressed and then allowed to settle, followed by fermentation on wild yeasts. Fermentation and aging in traditional underground cement tanks lined with tiles, under controlled temperature. The wine is then racked on fine lees with a little battonage, before being aged on lees for 24 months then a further 12 months in bottle.

BEL0418WW
Batard Langelier
Oxymore
2018
Loire
Organic Conversion
Wild yeasts
Low Sulphur
Vegan

The Loire, France's longest river, is home to many much celebrated and quintessential French grapes. From the once ubiquitous-in-the-UK Melon de Bourgogne by the Atlantic coast, to the home of Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre, via some of the world's best Chenin and crunchy Cabernet Francs, Gamays and Pinots there is quality all around. Being at the northernly limit for winemaking, the wines are hallmarked by their crisp, fresh, crunchy fruit and high acidity, where reds may sometimes struggle to ripen and whites nearly overdeliver on acidity. The 69 appellations that make up the larger region are grouped into smaller sub-regions with predominantly single variety wines leading the way. As you move east the climate changes markedly from maritime to continental as the soils change from flint and limestone to the hard granite of central France.

Jeremie and his wife Claire are third generation winemakers responsible for around 24 hectares of vines (averaging 40 years old) in the Muscadet Sevre et Maine appellation to the SE of Nantes. Found a mere 50km away from the Atlantic the true joy in their wines, and the reason I have taken 4 cuvees from the same one single grape (Melon de Bourgogne), is the variety of soils on which it grows and varying time it spends aging on its lees. Each cuvee is a parcelaire selection to truly express the minerality, finesse and typicity of their soils from; sandy loam, gabbros, clay silicious, gneiss and biotite granite with lees aging ranging from 6 to 24 months. Having travelled the world over, Jeremie and Claire returned inspired by cleaner low intervention farming and in 2014 started the conversion to Organic viticulture.

Tasting note: Concentrated white fruit; and a little stone fruit; with a salty; limey edge running through. High acidity and fine; but not thin; texture. Leaner fruit on the pallet; more lime; green melon; pineapple and crisp pear and a real spiciness. Saltiness; grassiness and a real crystalline structure is all carried through by direct; biting acidity.
Winemaking Detail: Hand-harvested from one plot of 40/50 year old vines on Gneiss. Lightly pressed and then allowed to settle, followed by fermentation on wild yeasts. Fermentation and aging in traditional underground cement tanks lined with tiles, under controlled temperature. The wine is then racked on fine lees with a little battonage, before being aged on lees for 24 months then a further 12 months in bottle.
Features Lemon Pear Honey Mineral Intense

Features High acidity, Honey, Intense, Lemon, Mineral, Pear,
Tasting note Concentrated white fruit, and a little stone fruit, with a salty, limey edge running through. High acidity and fine, but not thin, texture. Leaner fruit on the pallet, more lime, green melon, pineapple and crisp pear and a real spiciness. Saltiness, grassiness and a real crystalline structure is all carried through by direct, biting acidity.
Drink with
Pike, Truffle butter, White cheese,

Wine details

Country France
Region Loire
Producer Batard Langelier
Wine Name Oxymore
Style Rich & Full bodied
Vintage 2018
Main Grape Melon de Bourgogne
Other Grapes
Size 6 x 75cl
Closure Cork
A.B.V. 0.12
Production 3000
Aging 24 months on lees
Soil Shallow topsoil on Gabbro
Time to drink Now - 2028
Winemaking Detail Hand-harvested from one plot of 40/50 year old vines on Gneiss. Lightly pressed and then allowed to settle, followed by fermentation on wild yeasts. Fermentation and aging in traditional underground cement tanks lined with tiles, under controlled temperature. The wine is then racked on fine lees with a little battonage, before being aged on lees for 24 months then a further 12 months in bottle.