Leon Barral Blanc 2023

Domaine Leon Barral is a reference point for biodynamic farming in Faugeres, in the Languedoc, where schist soils and warm Mediterranean conditions shape the wines. This blanc leads with Terret Blanc, a traditional Languedoc white grape valued for its freshness in a hot climate, alongside other white varieties. Harvest and selection are done by hand, and the grapes ferment with their own yeasts. The wine then macerates on its skins for around four weeks with manual battonage, a long contact that draws out colour, texture and firm phenolic tannin from the skins while the lees stirring builds body. After maceration the grapes are pressed in an old vertical press, and the wine spends a brief period in barrel, where slow oxygen exchange rounds the structure. The colour is amber. The nose shows dried apricot, orange peel and beeswax over dried herbs, and the palate is dry, broad and textured, with almond, honey and a grippy, savoury finish typical of extended skin contact. Serve at 12 to 14 degrees, decanted to open it up. It pairs with roast pork, poultry and hard mountain cheeses.