We stroll out on cool mornings right into a mist of hauntingly candy, powdery scents. Our almond tree flowers even earlier, although much less prolifically; it has the same although subtler perfume. Then there’s the scent of toasted almonds themselves, and honey, too – and maybe the 2 compounded… in nougat. Might we add hawthorn? Honeysuckle, perhaps, and linden? Welcome to scent heaven. Now: discover me a white wine that smells like that.
Guess what? There’s one. These are all scents you may hope to likelihood on in a glass of a recent younger white created from the Clairette grape selection. They had been additionally among the allusions that I jotted down in March as I blind-tasted via a spread of wines from the brand new Gigondas Blanc appellation, showing on labels from the 2023 classic. This may be (and sometimes is) pure Clairette, and should be at the very least 70% Clairette; balancing varieties embody Clairette Rose, Grenache Blanc and Gris, Marsanne and Roussanne, Piquepoul Blanc and Bourboulenc (plus not more than 5% Viognier and Ugni Blanc).
The powder-sweet scents draw you in they usually’ll be there on the palate, too, which must be recent however uninsistent, with softly lapping quite than sharp or angular acidity. Fruits? Quietly citrussy, swish, supportive.
Relying on mix, soil, exposition and altitude (the Gigondas vineyards rise from 120m to 550m, with all factors of the compass coated) a wine from low-lying vineyards will probably be rich and plush, generally with somewhat comfortable grip; whereas higher-sited vines usually give up one thing brisker, sappier and extra driving. Oxidation and over-emphatic wooden notes are dangers to keep away from.
Southern France has Clairette du Languedoc and Clairette de Bellegarde already, however each are small and infrequently seen APs. Clairette de Die seems to be a glowing incarnation – however Muscat is usually on the entrance foot in these blends.
It’s white Châteauneuf-du-Pape that’s the readiest level of comparability. Clairette can be utilized by itself or blended with different white varieties on the terraces of Châteauneuf, too, with among the ‘pure’ variations (from Domaine la Barroche, Raymond Usseglio and Château de Vaudieu amongst others) being prized. In response to Gigondas appellation president Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme, although, Clairette on the slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail massif is ‘monstrously completely different’ from its efficiency on the extra open, lower-lying cobbles and sands north of Avignon. He stresses additional fragrant notes – ‘fennel and anis’ – as being diagnostic of Gigondas Blanc. ‘The variations,’ he says, ‘are literally a lot greater than the variations between our Grenache and Grenache from different zones.’ Barruol’s fellow evangelist of whites Pierre Amadieu provides: ‘It’s the brother of Grenache, perhaps even the mirror of Grenache, and the right selection for revealing terroir right here.’
Successful the brand new appellation was robust. The INAO regulatory authorities initially rebuffed the suggestion, saying that there weren’t sufficient white-grape plantings to benefit an AP extension; Barruol and Amadieu then produced a sequence of identically vinified white parcellaires wines over 4 years between 2011 and 2015 to make their case. Plantings are nonetheless modest (17.74ha in spring 2025, of which Amadieu properties have half), however fast uplift is deliberate. Demand is encouraging.
All of this, notice, marks a major historic reversal. Clairette was one of many trio of nice post-phylloxera vermouth varieties, prized for its oxidative charms however thought doomed within the fashionable period. So too was Piquepoul (the 2 type the spine of Noilly Prat, Languedoc’s nice vermouth survivor). Now each are freshly scented and reascendant – in Gigondas and Picpoul de Pinet respectively. Will any appellation now step ahead to champion the third, Terret Blanc?
