Ministry of Clouds 2024 McLaren Vale Picpoul

"Picpoul is a lesser-known grape here in Australia, but has been cultivated on the Mediterranean coast of France for centuries and often finds its way in small quantities in white blends. For the uninitiated of single-varietal expressions, think the best hybrid of racy German Riesling and chalky, mineral Chablis.

Pale straw colour. An invitingly fresh, thirst quenching, mineral-driven nose; chalk, talc, kefir lime, and mineral tones build with each swirl. The bracing, steely palate follows with lemon pith, green apple, brined capers, broadening out with a delightful leesy creaminess, but is amply textured with on its very long, chalky finish. A wine of incomprehensible quality-to-price ratio, this has been given the royal treatment: 100% estate fruit, handpicked, whole bunch press, settled by gravity, wild yeast, 80% fermented in stainless with the other 20% oxidatively treated in neutral old oak, with another 5 months on lees after ferment. Truly the Picpoul to end all Picpoul, one of the finest examples we have seen produced locally or in its native Languedoc." - Nick