L'Icaunais, 2022

A near-extinct grape the French authorities once ordered ripped out. The grower took them to court, won, and this is the result: light, earthy and raspberry-bright.

Gascon is an old Loire and Yonne grape with only a few hectares left. Claude Courtois grafted it onto his Syrah vines in Sologne, then fought the authorities in court to keep it. His son Etienne ages it two and a half years in old barrels and adds nothing at bottling. Wild raspberry, earth and a thread of smoke, with lively freshness. The long ageing leaves a faint nutty edge. Light and juicy.