Domaine La Rémejeanne Côtes du Rhône Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc 2022

Chèvrefeuilles (pronounced ‘shev-ruh-foy’) is French for honeysuckle, the perfume of which you cannot escape during springtime in the southern Rhône. Olivier is a sucker for the character and freshness of old-vine Clairette, which now accounts for half the blend in his delightful citrus- and white-plum-scented Les Chèvrefeuilles Blanc, with the remainder made up of 25% Roussanne and 25% Grenache Blanc. The fruit grows on the domaine's cooler, east-facing sites, where the prevalence of limestone helps to preserve freshness. Where the Arbousiers white below is drawn from the estate's oldest plantings, this wine comes from vines planted in 2010 and 2011.

The fruit is pressed as whole bunches and ferments on heavy solids with natural yeasts before resting on its fine lees in concrete for eight months before bottling. The result is a succulently mouth-filling white Rhône, with pulpy textures, citrus pith and chamomile aromas and flavours balanced by some lip-smacking salty minerality (from the Clairette) and a vibrant, juicy close that deliciously manages to be both mineral and floral. Terrific value.