Le Jardin de la Source VdF 2024

A dry Pinot Blanc at 12.0% vol. that sets freshness against creaminess. Built linear and compact, with saline minerality as its guiding thread.

The vineyard lies a short walk from the village and is fed by a natural spring. Until the late 1960s, the site was known as Brunnelgärten and served as a local vegetable garden. The moderately sloped plot, at 250 metres altitude, faces east, catches the morning sun and lies in the shade of the village above in the afternoon. Trees and hedges enclose it almost entirely; the soils are deep, cool yet fertile limestone marl from the early Jurassic.

100% Pinot Blanc from the first vines planted on this terroir, now over 50 years old. Harvest is timed by pH, at pH 3.2. The grapes are gently pressed for eight hours in a hydraulic wooden press, and the must ferments spontaneously in old Burgundy casks, without oenological additives. Bottled in Burgundy-style bottles, declared as Vin de France.

The freshness is considerable, while the wine also comes across as creamy and approachable. Salty notes and a pronounced minerality linger long. Its notes of iodine and crushed shells only emerge with time.

With shellfish, fish and, generally, dishes with intense sauces.

Since 2023, Jolene Hunter and Paul McKirdy have been vinifying their own wines in Zellenberg, on 3.5 hectares of Jurassic limestone marl, producing a maximum of 25,000 bottles a year. The long pressing is a legacy from Champagne.