Clos Saouma Cotes du Rhone Villages Blanc INOPIA 2022

The vast majority of the fruit is from their own vineyards around the winery in Orange, planted  in 2014. Mostly Grenache Blanc (upwards of 70%) with Roussanne, Marsanne & Clairette.

Yields as low as 30 l/hct. Pressed hard using mechanic press (old Vaslin Press from 1974) taking all the lees (no racking) then fermented naturally (some of the varietals co-fermented dependant on vintage) in 1600 ltr Cement eggs + 500ltr barrels.

Barrels are predominantly seasoned wood that have been used for the Magis Châteauneuf-du- Pape Blanc the year prior. The barrels are sourced from the same cooper they use in Burgundy, Stephane Chassin who uses wood from the Jupiles forest, sourced just north of the Loire Valley. It’s a very tight grain wood and low toast.

On full lees for 16 months minimum, no racking and little to no sulphur during elevage if only a few months prior to bottling. Bottled unfined + unfiltered

“INOPIA is a terroir in Orange (remember Orange is one of the five villages producing Châteauneuf-du-Pape) , clay soil (1 m) with a lot of little river stones called “Grès” (8 m deep) so it has a nice humidity (clay) for the dry south climate and a lot of mineral elements from the stone. The land was empty abandoned when we bought it in 2011 , we saw the great potential there and we decided to plant 11 varietals (teasing Châteauneuf with their 13 varietals) , high density (4700 plants per hectare, normally it’s 3500 ) , soil is very poor and we decided not to bring any food to the roots , objective quality low yield and not quantity” – Clos Saouma