[A168] SEBASTIEN RIFFAULT SANCERRE RAUDONAS 2015 750ml

Raudonas means 'red' in Lithuanian, the native language of Sébastien’s wife. This is also a truly unique wine, just like his other cuvées. It is the only red wine by Sébastien Riffault, made from Pinot Noir with noble rot.

The vineyard faces south and is situated on a steep slope with a 30% incline, and the soil is argilo-calcaire, a clay-limestone soil called caillottes. Here again, to protect the ecosystem of microorganisms and the softness of the soil, the vineyard is plowed in a traditional way using horses instead of tractors. From plots with an average vine age of over 40 years, the harvest is delayed to the absolute limit compared to normal Pinot Noir, and the grapes are hand-picked at a ratio of 60% fully ripe grapes and 40% botrytized grapes—a proportion unthinkable for a red wine.

The basics of the vinification method are whole-cluster fermentation, maceration, and no added SO2, but the choice of barrels or stainless steel tanks and the period of élevage seem to change flexibly depending on the vintage to counter volatile acidity. At the time of bottling, like his other cuvées, it is completely without added SO2, unfiltered, and unfined.

Immediately after release, it comes with a slight turbidity derived from the non-filter, but it increases in transparency as it undergoes bottle aging. 

The aroma features vivid red fruit notes of red plum, cranberry, and cherry, layered with dried fig and raisin derived from noble rot. From underneath, complex earthy nuances typical of matured Pinot Noir, such as mushroom, forest floor, cinnamon, and clove, are superimposed.

The attack is soft and has an extract-like feeling, but a small amount of volatile acidity works in a good direction, giving tension to the wine. (Whether one considers brett and volatile acidity as absolute flaws or views them positively as accents if they are moderate varies from person to person, but here we believe it works in a good way.) Its delicate taste and the seeping umami are its charms.

It may be unexpected, but we recommend drinking it kept at a low temperature, or rather, chilled. A small, thin glass is recommended, and decanting should not be done. It is not a wine that opens up over several hours after opening the bottle. It is a wine to admire a momentary, fragile, and transient beauty.

Unlike any Sancerre you have tasted before, but by far the best. A meditative, opulent wine also has an underlying mineral nerve that roots it firmly in the chalky hills of Sancerre". (from NATURAL WINE / Isabelle Legeron MW)

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