7 Vignobles Réveille 'White Spirit'

Region: AOP Côtes de Roussillon < France

Grapes: Macabeu, Grenache Gris

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: certified biodynamic, dry farming; gneiss and flint soils; manual harvest in boxes, vigorous hand sorting; aged on lees in concrete vat; bottled unfined/unfiltered with no added inputs or So2; 12.5% ABV

Winemaker: France Crispeels

LADY IN CHARGE: France Crispeels, single mom from Belgium who moves to the French Pyrenees, with its harsh, dry, windy climate, and starts farming biodynamically and making fresh, delicious, zero-zero wines – all on her own, no man in sight. 

France launched Réveille (which means "Rise" in French -- a reference to the growing natural wine movement in the Roussillon) in 2006, in the Agly Valley near France’s Catalan border.   Originally from Belgium, she studied architecture, film and writing, and worked in the arts before going back to (enology) school in Marseille in 2000, after her son was born.  And her approach to winemaking – that of an artisan more than a scientist – shows in her pretty, non-linear wines (and killer labels!) Her estate (and actually, the region) is way more red wine-focused, but we love her one white cuvee, White Spirit. Clean and crisp with a salty minerality, there is a seasonally appropriate richness and roundness to the fruit, which wavers between golden apples and candied ginger.  A really beautiful fall white.