Clos d’Yvigne from Majestic is an interesting wine. It’s maker, Patricia Atkinson, had moved to France without planning on being a winemaker, knowing anything about it, or speaking French, but a series of unfortunate events, documented in her books, The Ripening Sun and La Belle Saison, meant that winemaking seemed like a sensible way forward.
It smells fresh and fruity with a quite intense hit of florality. It’s dry, with a mineral acidity. It feels surprisingly full in the mouth with lots of lemons and grapefruits and some slightly bitter grassiness.
13.5% alcohol adds to the fullness, but is well balanced into the wine. It’s good with food as it stands up well. We had it with grilled tuna.
It costs around £6-7, which probably includes about a quid for the added romanticism of planning your own escape to run your own vineyard in the sun. It’s worth it.
Isn’t it funny that the wine world is littered with folks that moved to wine country with no intention of making wine. Must be something in the air. 🙂
Wouldn’t we all love to quit our day job to do just that? Nice story, I’ll keep an eye out for it here in Belgium