Clos du Gravillas, Minervois L’Inattendu Blanc 2021

In 1996 John and Nicole Bojanowski, a young Franco-American couple, purchased Clos de Gravillas in the Minervois region of south-western France and embarked upon a journey of making wine to best reflect the terroir of limestone gravel of their vineyards, where grapes have been grown for hundreds of years.

Perched on a plateau at an elevation of almost 1000ft, this 15-acre winery lies between the St. Chinian and Minerve canyons in the Parc Naturel of the Haut Languedoc just south of the Black Mountains. This location provides cool evening winds that let the grapes better retain their acidity and the hot summer temperatures assure the development of the necessary alcohol to balance acidity. This element of their terroir helps the grapes develop maximum depth of flavour.

L’inattendu “the unexpected” is a blend of 80% Grenache Blanc & 20% Macabeu, the 2021 vintage is a shockingly good white that offers notes of citrus blossom, white flowers, crushed rocks and hints of orchard fruits.

The Grenache vines were planted in 1940 so the roots go deep into the limestone soils and adds a distinct minerality to this stupendous wine which has real poise and exquisite balance.

This is testament to the quality of white wines from the south of France, unfortunately there are only 300 cases made.

This wine is from a certified producer.