Le Soula No 15 La Macération du Soula
Editor Rating
- Rated 4 stars
- Excellent
- Roussillon
- Reviewed by: Treve Ring
- Published on: August 15, 2018
- Last modified: August 15, 2018
Review Summary:
One of Southern France's most exciting natural and biodynamic wineries, overseen by winemaker Gérard Gauby, who found these abandoned vines in the late 1990s. This extended-skin contact blend of Vermentino and Macabeo is from 20-to-24-year-old vines on decomposed granite and gneiss, around 500 m altitude in the Fenouillèdes region (the French word for fennel). This is macerated on skins for 15 days before pressing and native fermented, spending a year in oak before bottling unfined and unfiltered. A dusky orange hue, this firm wine is edgy with tangerine pith, bergamot and, aptly, wild fennel. There's a lovely wisp of citrus oil perfumes and a heightened, almost nervous acidity to lift, but this wine is led and structured through the grippy tannins. Haunting mineral salts and a wild scrubby mint linger on the lingering finish.