Mikaël Bouges - Les Côts Hauts '18
100% Côt, red.
Les Côts Hauts is made using fruit from young Malbec vines that are around 17 years old. The fruit is bright and crunchy and clearly transmits the mineral rich soils over which the vines are planted; the aromas of gravel and wet stones sit high in the balance. The wine has this bloody, iron-y quality and is best served with a light chill, and is easy to combine with many dishes, soft local cheeses and great company.
About the Winemaker
Mikaël Bouges works organically over 8 hectares of land split into various parcels dotted around Faverolles-sur-Cher in Touraine. From the start Mikaël has worked organically taught by his father who tended the vines organically as early as the 90s. He has a thoughtful approach in the vineyard and in the cellar and seeks to express the varied alluvial soil types he works with by making single varietal wine from each of the individual parcels. The changing course of the river Cher over the centuries has left a patchwork of calcareous limestone soils, much of which are speckled with quartz and silex.
The resulting wines are profoundly mineral and represent a real sense of place. In the cellar the wines ferment spontaneously and are not filtered or fined, with a small amount of sulphur used only at bottling. We feel they are very classical in their expression; clean, bright and with incredible purity. We love to show them to people who are new to natural wines or in some way dubious about this very logical way of working. The wines from younger vines are made in tank and are great for the table; the older vines see an extended elevage in old barrels and invite deeper contemplation.