SAMUEL BOULAY LA DAMOISELLE BLANC 2018

Originally from the Loire, in 2013 Samuel moved to Les Salelles, a small village on the banks of the River Ibie in a particularly beautiful part of the Ardèche.

Here, he farms five hectares of old vineyards that teem with life. Samuel doesn’t cut the grass between the rows and treats the vines only with homeopathic treatments and plants according to the moon’s cycle.

In the cellar he is a purist. The wines are aged in old oak barrels for a year or two and unusually, are not topped up at any stage. He works without electricity, the wines are bottled by gravity with no additions and labelled by hand.

Samuel’s gentle and discrete nature makes for wines of rare purity. They have an energy, harmony and nourishing quality that is incredibly compelling. 

Viognier from a parcel of sixty year old vines right next to Samuel’s house. This was given a long, gentle press straight to old barrels, where the wine rested for twenty months. With notes of peach, white flowers and minerals this is a beautiful expression of the grape, with the kind of power, balance and poise that suggest it will age wonderfully for many years to come. Just two barrels were made.

La Demoiselle Blanc 2018