New arrivals from Clos Kixhaya!
Principled in their approach, and hugely enthusiastic, Beatriz Papamija and Etienne Le Blanc are testament to the options available with just 4 hectares of Cab Franc in Chinon, if your passion can match theirs.
Committed to working simply with what they have, Béa & Etienne have proved very resourceful in capturing a multitude of faces from their single varietal.
This week we release two contrasting expressions from each end of the red spectrum. Grappes Me 2021 is an instantly crushable zero-sulphur, 5-day whole bunch maceration. Béa jokes that she scolds French cavistes when they call it a rosé: "It's not a rosé! It's a very very light red!"
We're with Béa - and Grappes Me is great fun. It's a red we've been excited to release since Etienne brought over a sample to Bedrock last summer. One year later, it looks set to fleetingly be the wine of early summer '23. We don't foresee it hanging around!
The final release from their 2020 vintage: Les Amphores is very much from the other stylistic end of Béa's winemaking. Hand de-stemmed, macerated for 9 months in tank with no extraction, just keeping the cap wet with her hands. Basket pressed to amphora for a further 9 months, bottled with no additions.
It's deep and intriguing, wiring itself around a mineral core, one we're looking forward to watching as it develops over the years; we still can't quite believe how accomplished this debut vintage was.
AVAILABLE NOW
2020 - Les Grappes - Cab Franc
A 10 day maceration of whole-bunches in stainless steel. Basket pressed back to tank for 7 months ageing. No additions.
NEW 2021 - Grappes Me - Cab Franc
A 5 day maceration of whole bunches in concrete. Basket pressed back to concrete for 8 months. No additions.
2020 - Le Clos - Cab Franc
From a portion of their oldest vines, up to 90 years old. Picked and de-stemmed by hand, macerated for 40 days with zero extraction in stainless steel, with a little juice poured over to keep the cap wet. Basket pressed incredibly gently over 24 hours to old barrels, aged for a year before bottling.
NEW 2020 - Les Amphores - Cab Franc
From a portion of their oldest vines, up to 90 years old. Picked and de-stemmed by hand, macerated for 9 months in tank, with no extraction. Basket pressed over 24 hours to three Amphora for a further 9 months. Assembled and bottled with no additions.
