La Montagne AOC 2023

A dry white wine with richness and drive. The 14.0% vol. gives it weight, the acidity keeps it upright; what remains is clarity rather than warmth.

Philippe Gimel farms just over 16 hectares at the foot of Mont Ventoux, 12.5 of them under vine, the rest woodland and orchard. The parcels lie between 300 and 500 metres of altitude. Geologist Claude Bourguignon, with whom Gimel toured Provence before the purchase, found up to six different geological layers here. Wild herbs grow between the rows, and hedges and fruit trees border the parcels. Cool nights at 400 metres keep the acidity lively.

Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Bourboulenc from vines averaging over 40 years old. Yields run around 20 hectolitres per hectare. Oak plays no part in the cellar: all the wines age in concrete tank, which leaves the fruit unadorned. Gimel releases a wine only once he considers it ready; for La Montagne, he deems eight years of bottle ageing necessary.

White blossom and ripe pear at the outset, followed by quince peel, fennel and thyme. The body is dense, the acidity vibrant, the finish saline and long.

Grilled sea bass with fennel vegetables, Provençal chicken with lemon and olives, goat cheese tart with honey and thyme. It also carries enough structure for artichokes and veal.

Gimel abandoned his pharmacy studies to become an oenologist, training at Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with Pierre-Bise on the Loire and at Domaine de la Janasse. In 2003 he found twelve hectares of old vines in Le Barroux, with no cellar and no infrastructure; for the first years he lived in his small cellar. "The winemaker is a guardian of the land," he says.