2023 Chateau Thivin Vin de France Rouge 'Utopia' 750Ml Bottle

"A very deep red wine with purplish nuances. A nose of black fruits blueberries, blackberries, blackcurrant and a hint of pepper. A spicy and juicy palate with satiny tannins and a succulent finish." 

If you walked through this little terraced plot in spring, you would be crunching on a carpet of herbs, grasses, wild strawberries and flowers. The PIWI* (thick skinned hybrid, disease resistant) varieties planted here many years ago as an experiment, have “blossomed” and the wine is excellent. The vines have never been sprayed with copper, sulphur or any chemical; only herbal “tea” mixtures. The varieties used are prior (a german pinot cross), sauviginer gris, chambourcin and a little white johanniter. These are hand-picked (of course), and fermented with a high percentage of whole bunches, in small open fermenters before being pressed by hand in a tiny basket press. This wine ends up darker than the Cote de Brouillys and it exhibits some plummy, dark berry and subtle spicy fruitcake notes a little like a chianti, but it also shows some deep, dark Beaujolais character, even with no gamay at all!