Among our most inspiring recent discoveries is undoubtedly Clos Larrouyat, a small domaine my dad and I came across on a recent trip to the Southwest. Their wines have featured prominently on our dinner table since, and we have begun adding them to the family cellar alongside more famous names who at one point were also relative unknowns. You could say this young vigneron couple just gets it, which is all the more impressive considering they are still early in their career. Only a few years into their venture, Maxime and Lucie Salharang are fully locked into the amazing terroir for dry whites that is Jurançon. The magic starts with a holistic approach to farming, driven by a fluffy team of sheep. The wines are fermented spontaneously in neutral oak with natural malolactic, then are bottled unfiltered with low sulfur—all crucial steps in preserving silky flesh to coat the bracing acidity typical of Gros and Petit Manseng. Expect notes of peach pulp, beeswax, almond, and stone, with a serious emphasis on the stone.
Anthony Lynch, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant