Chenin Blanc, Loire Valley, France 

An everything nonconforming, alternate dimension Peter Pan/‘forever-young’ kinda archetype ~ take us anywhere dear friend. Babass and fellow natural winemaker Patrick Desplats founded Domaine des Griottes in 2000 and really kickstarted the movement towards zero-zero winemaking. Today, Babass and his partner Agnès work roughly 4.2 hectares of vines from several sites neighbouring one another, in Rochefort-sur-Loire (located in middle-Loire). Their emblematic chenin blanc is made from an exceptional parcel acquired from the Hacquet sisters, Anne and Françoise, which has never seen any chemicals thanks to the family’s stand against the chemical-industrial revolution of the 50s. This parcel resides on acidity reinforcing schist soils that help take this wine to the next level. Ginger bread cookies, meyer lemon skin, warm spices, ramen packet, waxy honeycomb, butter wafer, canned mandarin supremes, plush up-front but irresistible minerality runs down the sides of the tongue like a rainforest waterfall. Pour alongside Vivianne Westwood deep dives & listening to Patti Smith.