Clos Du Gravillas A Fleur de Peau Muscat, Languedoc – 2023

From a wonderful, biodynamic family wine estate just outside St Jean de Minervois, just north of Narbonne in the Languedoc region, this has a golden straw colour from its 3 weeks of skin contact during fermentation. It has amazing floral, fruit and spice aromas which burst open in the mouth. Dry, spicy. structured, very complex and extremely aromatic, this is a fantastic introduction to “orange” wines (ie white wines which are fermented with their skins) for anyone who, like me, is an orange wine cynic!

And it’s not only me who was bowled over by this wine. It was one of Decanter Wine Magazine’s “Wines of the Year” in 2022, receiving 95/100pts and the comment:- Probably one of the greatest dry Muscat wines in the world”.

Jancis Robinson MW and her team also liked it:-

“Deep gold. I last tasted this wine in 2020 (the 2018 vintage) and this is just as gorgeous. Just as spine tingling. Racing ginger and turmeric spices, exploding with fireworks of intensity and drama. Quince and honey and saffron. Clementine peel and candied lemon. Angelica and fennel flowers. Fennel seed. Treacle. Iodine. Changing every second in the mouth. But full of fullness and full of charm. So exciting that one sip and you’re buzzing, two and you’re Alice down a rabbit hole where the magic happens and anything is possible. A Michelin sommelier’s dream.” 17.5/20pts Tamlyn Currin MW for jancisrobinson.com