Château Lafitte Orange 2022

Château Lafitte is a historic estate in the Jurançon appellation, in the foothills of the Pyrenees in south-west France, restored by Philippe and Brigitte Arraou and now joined by their son. The grape is Petit Manseng, the thick-skinned local variety best known for the region's sweet whites, here vinified dry as a skin-contact orange wine. Jurançon's climate combines warm days with cool nights coming off the mountains, a diurnal swing that preserves the grape's marked acidity while the fruit ripens, and the thick skins make Petit Manseng well suited to maceration. The wine is fermented on its skins and aged in clay amphorae, whose porous walls allow a slow, gentle oxidative development without any oak character, while the extended skin contact extracts colour, phenolics and tannin to give the wine its amber hue and grip. Farming is biodynamic and natural, with native yeasts and minimal intervention. The wine, bottled at 500 ml, shows a deep amber colour and a nose of apricot, orange peel and honey over dried herbs and beeswax. The palate is dry, rich and textured, with stone fruit, a nutty edge and a firm, tannic finish. Serve at around 13 to 14 degrees. It suits roast pork, chicken and nutty cheeses.