Grape: Chardonnay
Region: Roussillon, France
Farming: Sustainable
The Roussillon has a little bit of everything and a lot of history. There are limestone mountains to the north along the border with Corbières and granite peaks to the south, where it shares a border with Spain. In between are several distinct terroirs: red schist in Asprès, a potpourri of igneous and metamorphic soils in Fenouillade, black schist and limestone in Maury, and three rivers that have formed a broad alluvial, coastal plain. The terroirs and microclimates of the Roussillon make it a veritable playground for experimentation and discovery – even with something as common seeming as Chardonnay. A little further inland and along the Têt river valley, Chardonnay thrives on deep red clay soils with gravels washed down from the surrounding mountains. This is a sterner terroir, warmer and drier than the vineyards near the sea. The name Colline aux Fossiles may seem fanciful, but there are actually old, weathered fossils mixed in this site’s gravelly soils. The Colline Aux Fossiles Chardonnay is picked when the flavors are rich and ripe but when there is still plenty of natural acidity remaining in the grapes. This wine is a beautifully rich expression of site over winemaking, being fermented and aged in tank (70%) and new French oak barrels (30%.)
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