Domaine de la Cadette, Melon Blanc "La Souer", Vezelay Burgundy, France,

TASTING NOTE: a pale lemon-yellow colour, a bright, clean nose, a zingy palate reminiscent of lime-zest and oyster shell and just a hint of ginger and white pepper from the yeast lees.

FOOD RECOMMENDATION: Oysters, fish or goats cheese

SHORT HISTORY: La Soeur Cadette is the negoce under which Jean, Catherine and Valentin Cadette make wine using a combination of grapes from their own vines and those of their friends who do not make wine except for their own use. Jean and Catherine Montanet created Domaine de la Cadette in 1987, with the help of friends andfamily. Cadette, meaning ‘the youngest child’ is a nod to Catherine whose family’s vineyards contribute to the domaine’s production. It took them ten years to clear land and replant vines in an area that was, at the time, little known for its quality viticulture which never really recovered from Phylloxera. By 1997 however, Vezelay was awarded its own AOC – in no small part down to the noble work carried out by the Montanets. Jean and Catherine farm 13 Ha of vineyards today, and have been working organically since 1999. They became certified in 2002, a move which is particularly bold in an area where most wine has traditionally been sold in bulk.

(MICRO)CLIMATE: Slightly cooler than Chablis – the vines here enjoy great sun exposure, lending a balance between generous fruit and deep mineral structure

TERROIR: The vineyard land sits deep in the Morvan, the great mountain range that runs west by northwest of the famous Côte d’Or. The land here is quite exceptional. The creation of the granite massif of the Morvan has uplifted a marl and limestone strata, revealing fossilized marine deposits. Though Vézelay is a geographic appendage of Chablis, the soils are not exactly the same. Instead of the Kimmerdigian soils, the clays here range from blue and gray to red, sometimes with no clay at all but just shallow limestone.

VITICULTURE: The Montanets practice organic viticulture, using no pesticides or herbicides in the vineyard.

VINIFICATION:

• Manual harvest

• Whole bunch pressing

• Wild yeast

• Natural Fermentation

• Aged for 6 months in stainless steel

• Small amounts of sulphur at bottling only.