Claude Courtois Les Cailloux du Paradis Racines Blanc 2020

Les Cailloux du Paradis is run by Claude Courtois and his son on 13 hectares at Soings-en-Sologne in the Loire, a benchmark address for natural wine that they replanted from abandoned vineyards in the early 1990s. Racines Blanc is a field blend of Chardonnay, Romorantin, Sauvignon Blanc and the rare local Menu Pineau, farmed biodynamically and bottled outside the appellation as Vin de France. The wine ferments with wild yeasts and ages in wood with no additions and little or no added sulphur, an oxidative, hands-off approach that trades primary fruit for a savoury, textured character. Slow oxygen exchange in barrel and long lees contact build a nutty, waxy palate and a gently phenolic grip. It shows an evolved golden colour and a nose of pear, green apple and dried herbs over almond, walnut and beeswax, with an umami savour that marks the natural handling. The palate is dry and layered, saline and long. Serve at 11 to 13 degrees and decant if preferred, as it can be reductive on opening.