Domaine de l’Épeire ‘Astradyne’ Blanc 2021

Location: France, Roussillon, Côte Catalanes

Winemaker: Philippe Petit

Grapes: Macabeu

Soil: 75 year old vines, stony rocks, quartz, clay, schist, pinstriped. Highlands of a valley.

Winemaking: Organic, hand picked early, direct press, native fermentation, aged on lees.

From the Importer Steven Graf: Philippe is a native son of the French Catalan country, and the remarkable village of Calce in particular. For the past 25 years, Philippe has worked the vineyards of Calce. He comes from four generations of winemakers. Working for a major co-op, Philippe knows this unique place as well as anyone, and brings to it his own spirit of viticultural ingenuity and curiosity. He's responsible for bringing natural practices to countless vineyards, utilizing the biodynamic method, and relying on a keen understanding of the variegated soil types that make Calce what it is.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, tectonic plates collided and abutted each other (rather than sublimating one another) to form the striated landscape where Calce sits today. As a result, a multitude of bedrocks run like pinstripes over the land, cleanly divided in strata of the Earths jutting plate. Philippe is a quiet, serious, cartographer of this beautiful mosaic. In 2019, he took just 3 hectares of his own to start this new domaine with the express purpose of pairing a single grape variety with a single bedrock to make his cuvées.

The shape and angularity of both of his wines are a testament to Philippe's analytical aim. I love just about all the natural producers from this small village, but Philippe's have a structure and clarity that, for me, speaks to his intimate relationship to this place. There are no simpler connections to this awesome place than through the wines I've tasted with Philippe.