Viognier, Grenache Noir, Grenache Blanc, Petit Sirah, Syrah & Sauvignon Blanc, Ardeche, France

An electric & labyrinthine zero-zero ‘blouge’ field blend with a big story to tell! It was the best of times; it was the worst of times for this tale of six grapes who were only united after a violent storm ravaged about three-quarters of one of cult natural winemakers Anders Frederick Steen & Anne Bruun Blauert’s small parcels in Ardeche. They decided to combine what was left and create a cerebral blend of the viognier, grenaches noir & blanc, petit & regular syrah, infusing them in already-fermenting sauvignon blanc juice for a month before squirrelling it away in barrels for three years. It is emerging now triumphant & full of life, vibrating with supernatural energy like the enormous grove of quaking aspens in Utah whose millions of leaves shimmer in sync because of their vast, shared roots – connected in movement, like pearls on a string. SEE? EXACTLY THE SAME! Pop a bottle open and you will be gifted with an orchestra of biblical figs, seductively wild berries, black cherry Canada Dry with two straws, coffee shop that’s boiling clementines for the cake you like, Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe & sticking your head out the car window like a puppy dog on a country road, your hair a wind whip, all the scents making your brain illuminate like a Lite-Brite. It feels appropriate to drink ‘Like pearls on a string’ with whatever you can valiantly forage whether that be morels from a briar patch or those olives in the back of your fridge.