From the Picquepoul grape, grown near the Med, and terrific with seafood. Green-tinged. Light scent of white flowers. Bright fruit - kiwi and lime - but as usual with a mildly herbal note. Now-2011

Product Code: CRE109

The Benau fmaily make a superb Picpoul de Pinet. Picpoul de Pinet is a little known appellation near the Bassin de Thau, east of Béziers, for just a single grape, the white Piquepoul. The grape has the advantage of being slow-ripening: picked after the heat of summer has passed it retains freshness and flavour. The wine is much appreciated within France, a staple in Parisian bistros to accompany seafood. Fresh, slightly sharp, with a bit of weight and a tang of the sea about it, it really does wash down oysters, mussels or fish perfectly (the vineyards are within sight of the oyster beds in the Bassin). Look on it as the Muscadet of the Mediterranean, albeit with more volume and heft.

The Benaus’ vineyards are on clay and gravel soils, which lend greater weight than the sandier fields nearer the sea, set amidst woods of pines and cypresses. They crop at low yields, around 40hl/ha., pick very late - well into September - and leave the wine on its lees. This care produces a wine with considerable concentration and character, which has become a real favourite here.