At once airy and lifted, but with an unmistakable depth and concentration, for us this is Gamay at its best. The diurnal temperature fluctuations at this altitude draw a diffused perfume, and the granite keeps the acidity tightly-wound. Beautifully supple and fluid in texture, with powdery tannins and deep, dark maraschino cherry fruit. The longer maceration brings a multilayered complexity alongside the higher-register aromatics and salty minerals and dry spices. A cool vintage brings freshness and elevates the minerality that follows the fruit.

One of Paulette’s domaine wines, from a small parcel of 50 year-old Gamay, planted over sandy decomposed granite and quartz at around 500 meters in the hills outside Annonay. This is in many ways her signature cuvée, and offers a beautiful expression of the extreme north of the Ardèche. A fitting reference to her time working with Daniel Sage, this wine is made in the infusion style, half of the grapes direct-pressed and the other half added to this juice in whole bunches to macerate and gently bleed pigment over the course of 25 days. The wines is then pressed off to vats to rest for 9 months before being bottled with no additions.