Mas Coutelou Amphore Métissée

As Jean-François Coutelou himself points out, "you can tell a real winemaker by his hands". This vigneron from Languedoc (France) has really hardened his hands from working the vineyard since he took over the 20-hectare family estate in the 1980s and converted it all to organic. To this end, he sacrificed 7 hectares of cultivated land and implemented the concept of polyculture by planting olive groves and fruit trees. Likewise, increasingly attracted to natural winemaking practices, he followed his instincts in the winery without following convention. This has made him one of the greats of minimal intervention in its region, where new references reflecting the pure flavors of Languedoc are expected every year.

Mas Coutelou Amphore Métissée is a cuvée of Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris from vines grown on a high, cool hillside with limestone and clay soil mixed with lime. It has been grown under organic certification since 1987 and the grapes are harvested by hand at the optimum moment of ripening. In the winery, the grapes undergo spontaneous fermentation in amphorae with a two-week maceration. There the wine rests for 12 months to acquire complexity and finesse. Finally, the wine is bottled without clarifying, filtering or additives.

Once ready to drink, Mas Coutelou Amphore Métissée oozes naturalness. An intense, fresh and deep cuvée, which, like any of Jeff's wines, is made with his own hands. A superb wine, perfectly digestible and evolving towards perfection.