Le Joly Organic Blanc 2013

Like sunning yourself and then staggering, unsexy but happy, into the sea, this white is supremely refreshing. The wine is 100% organic and made almost entirely by hand, as winemaker and owner Virgile likes wines that are as unsullied as his name sounds.

The peppery white Grenache grape and the swaggeringly fragrant Rousanne combine to create a wine with succulent peach and jasmine blossom, with a seemless zip of acidity keeping things crisp and fresh.

*Closes eyes and dives into the waves*.

The Virgile Joly & Cie winery was created by Virgile Joly in 2000 in AC Languedoc-Saint-Saturnin. Virgile began with one hectare of vines and worked organically from the get go. Today he has 15 hectares of vines, all of which are cultivated organically. The grape varieties include Grenache (white and red), Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault, with an average natural yield of 30 hl/ha.

Having spent his childhood in the Rhône Valley, between Avignon and Vaison la Romaine, where his grandfather was a winemaker; and Virgile's attachment to the land is as strong as ever. After finishing his studies in oenology and management, he gained further experience in wine cooperatives and smaller individual wineries. But his strong sense of independence meant he had only one idea in his mind: to create his own winery. Hence in 2000 he set himself up in St Saturnin, in the Terrasses du Larzac area, where he rented one hectare of vines. Ten years on, he has fifteen hectares of organic vines in the heart of this wild land.

Special attention is paid to the ecosystems. Preference is given to manual work in order to allow the vines to express themselves as naturally as possible. Weeding is done manually without chemicals and organic fertilisers are used. Respect for the grapes, as well for the vines, means that the grapes are picked and sorted by hand and then transported to the cellar in small crates where they are destalked and vinified in a traditional way. Once they have been blended, the wines are then matured in vats.

Le Joly Blanc is fresh and easy drinking with notes of succulent peach and crisp, juicy white fruits; the aromatic complexity of Grenache Blanc is amplified by a touch of Roussanne. It would pair perfectly with a seafood platter or grilled bream.