„La Carbonnode“ Zen VdF 2023

Wine Description for „La Carbonnode“ Zen VdF 2023 by La Soufrandière

Colour & Appearance

Intense straw yellow with warm apricot reflections – a visual harbinger of the characterful natural wine personality awaiting in the glass.

Nose

A fascinating interplay of aromas that constantly reinvents itself: light tobacco and pickled ginger meet bitter orange, bergamot and dried orange peel. These are joined by dried pears, waxy-skinned apples and genuine honeycomb. With air contact, a kaleidoscopic aromatic panorama unfolds between rich fruit and refined spice – fine woods round off the bouquet.

Palate

Here the authentic natural wine texture reveals itself in all its elegance: like a long-steeped Darjeeling, the wine presents itself with an aromatically stimulating, astringent tannin structure that lends it distinctive freshness despite moderate acidity. The orange theme from the nose continues consistently, accompanied by tobacco, mace and mild spices. The texture is gripping, lively and suffused with sublime coolness.

Finish

Long and sweeping with a fine, spicy coolness that lingers beautifully and invites the next sip.

Grape Variety & Vinification

100% Chardonnay from the La Bonnode parcel, vinified with carbonic maceration over nine days. Spontaneous fermentation and ageing in used 228-litre barrels, completely without sulphur addition during fermentation and ageing. Only minimally sulphited at unfiltered bottling (24 mg/l). A purist approach that gives Chardonnay an entirely new form of expression.

Food Pairing Suggestions

Perfect with roasted turbot with saffron sauce, Coq au Vin blanc, aged Comté or morels in cream. The tannin structure also pairs beautifully with lightly smoked trout or veal sweetbreads.

Special Features

With only 1,780 bottles, a true rarity. Carbonic maceration – otherwise typically employed for red wines – lends this Chardonnay an extraordinary texture and aromatics. A bold, artisanally brilliant natural wine from Burgundy that delightfully subverts conventional expectations of the grape variety.