2020 l'Octavin Mus'cat

WINEMAKER: Alice Bouvot
REGION: Roussillon/Jura, FR
VARIETAL: Muscat d'Alexandria, Muscat à Petit Grains
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

Sometimes with a wine made from 100% Muscat we find the floral nature of this grape variety a bit overwhelming. However there are some winemakers who can “tame the beast” and produce wines that bring the best out of this grape and this one is a great example. For this wine Alice purchased the Muscat from the well-known natural wine maker Vincent Lafage from Saint-Jean Lasseille in Roussillon. This village is immediately below the main city of Perpignan.

Alice normally macerates the wines for 15 days and she followed that practice in 2020. There were two varieties of Muscat namely Muscat a Petit Grains and Muscat d’Alexandrie. When we tasted the wines from tank where they had been vinified separately the Alexandrie was a much deeper orange than the Petit Grains. The wine ended up being somewhat orange with a lovely texture and a beautiful aroma and is only 11% alcohol. This wine will match a wide range of foods.

Alice Bouvot started from scratch in 2004, buying a small cellar in the village of Arbois and a couple of hectares of vines in the hills surrounding. She now farms around five hectares biodynamically and harvests grapes from trusted friends all over France. A highly sought-after cult producer.