Esprit Vendangeur Macération 2019

You step off the plane into the heat of Southern France. Then it hits you, that post-plane scent of a hot country, something that comes from the trees blowing in a warm breeze. It’s the promise of long summer evenings and days spent by opalescent blue waters of a beach, it’s nature’s air freshener. Then, this moment of holiday purity is snatched away from you by the long passport queue and a very confusing hour during which you try to figure out a new public transport that you feel was set up to confuse you. Finally, you arrive at a bar, a little sweaty and needing a drink. You spot this orange wine in the wine fridge, it’s the colour of sunshine, it’s perfect for you. On the nose, fresh nectarines follow ripe exotic fruits and a hint of the sandstone amphora in which this wine is made. Instantly you are reminded of that smell when you got off the plane. You take a sip, it’s dry, refreshing and ultra-lively with a balanced acidity, and fruit expression rendered wonderfully complex by the eight and a half months this has spent in contact with the skins. You feel it soothe your parched throat. You take another sniff, then another sip. Your holiday has begun. This is a natural orange wine to mull over, one that with each sip show you some new expression. We recommend serving this chilled (but not too cold). It would stand up to well to lightly spicy Asian dishes.