Oof. Due to negligible yields, it’s been six years since the last release of this wine. In good years, Garagiste’s small parcel of 30-year-old vines in Tuerong yields bunch sizes averaging 20-30 grams! In 2024, there was just enough for a single 500-litre barrel. It's a shame more people won’t get to taste such a lovely wine. Half the fruit ferments as whole bunches for three weeks, where Barney looks to build mouthfeel rather than relying on high levels of ripeness on the vine: “The carbonic element ramps up the perfume and the texture.” The remaining half is pressed as bunches for fermentation in seasoned wood, and the whole matured for seven months in a single puncheon on its lees.
This is textbook Gewürz, immediately giving off scents of rose petals and water, meadow florals, some spice and beautifully ripe, pure fruit. The texture is succulent, with flecks of phenolics and a detailed line of livening acidity keeping everything tight and compact. This belongs on a degustation menu (or get this in front of some meltingly ripe Munster). Absence makes the heart grow fonder.