2022 Domaine du Petit Août Hautes Alpes Blanc ‘Fête Foraine’

A blend of 42% Muscat d’Alexandrie, 24% Muscat à Petits Grains, 15% Clairette, 13% Roussanne and 6% Marsanne, all farmed organically from high altitude vineyards on clay-limestone soils. The grapes are all harvested by hand, and sorted right in the vineyard, then pressed and fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel vats. The wine is aged for 5 months on its lees in the tanks. Only 2,200 bottles were made of this gem! 12.7% alcohol. 

Tasting Notes

Light bodied, with pale straw color and an enticing nose of peach, apricot and verbena. Its pronounced fresh Muscat flavors touched by notes of sage and mint make it an aperitif par excellence, but it is also perfect with a seafood platter or a fruit tart.

About Domaine du Petit Août

Domaine du Petit Août (little August in French) takes its name from proprietor Yann Agostini’s Italian heritage (Agostini is little August in Italian).  Yann’s grandfather left his home near Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy during the Second World War and found work in this beautiful valley just south of Gap. He worked as a mason in the region and passed on the knowledge of his trade to Yann’s dad. Yann has worked harvests in St. Emilion, Southwest France, the Yarra Valley in Australia and Chateauneuf du Pape before returning to the Haute Alpes.  In 2012 he built a small winery outside of Théüs.  80% of Yann’s vines are rented from other producers; currently there are 6 hectares in production, broken into a number of different varieties: Mollard, Roussanne, Clairette, Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Marsanne. Ages of the vines vary greatly, with the oldest being 55 years old and the youngest 5 years old. Yields are low: 40 hl/ha on average. While always respecting the vineyards, Yann took the plunge in 2014 and began working organically, and he is certified since 2017. He uses no artificial fertilizers or herbicides, and only copper and sulfur to treat the vines. Harvest is by hand and red wines are made and aged in fiberglass and stainless steel tanks, while white wines are aged 6-8 months in 225-liter oak barrels. The wines are lightly fined and filtered before being bottled.