Brett happens

IGP Vin des Allobroges 2012, Schiste, Domaine des Ardoisières ($64.00, private import, 6 bottles/case)
The steep, terraced, mountain-side vineyards, formerly forest land above the village of Villard, were created in the late 1990s. From the start, all farming has been organic and biodynamic. This is a blend of four of the estate’s five white varieties: Jacquère (40%), Roussane (30%), Malvoisie (aka Pinot Gris, 20%) and Mondeuse Blanche (10%). The varieties are vinified separately. After manual harvesting, the grapes are lightly pressed. The musts are chilled, clarified by settling and transferred to third- to fifth-fill barrels for alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is not systematic. The wine is matured for 12 months in barrels, then racked, blended, lightly filtered and bottled. Production: around 7,000 bottles. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
One of the most crystalline wines I’ve encountered. Fresh, dry, ethereal and above all pure. Intertwining scents and flavours of wax, white fruit, minerals and flowers. Exquisite tension between acidity and extract. Long saline, white spice-haunted finish. An elegantly balanced wine with every quality. Breathtaking now though the estate claims it can age for up to a decade. A knockout with Reblochon cheese. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)