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Quartz, Les Cailloux du Paradis 2022
Les Cailloux du Paradis
Les Cailloux du Paradis is a historic natural wine estate in the Sologne viticole, based near Soings en Sologne in the Loir et Cher. Founded in the late 1970s by Claude Courtois, the domaine has long been a reference point for low intervention farming and cellar work, predating the modern natural wine movement. Today the estate is led by his son, Étienne Courtois, who continues the family’s purist approach across ten hectares of mixed sand, clay, flint, and silex soils bordered by dense forest. The vineyards are worked organically with strong biodynamic influence, with all tasks carried out manually and biodiversity fostered through hedgerows, wild grasses, and woodland integration. In the cellar, fermentations occur spontaneously in old barrels or neutral tanks, ageing is long and oxidative, and sulphur is never used, resulting in deeply expressive and unmistakably individual wines.
Quartz 2022 comes from Sauvignon Blanc vines rooted in pure flint and silex soils, the stoniest and most mineral parcels of the estate. The 2022 growing season was warm and dry, producing small berries with concentrated flavour and naturally low yields. Hand harvested at optimal ripeness, the grapes were pressed slowly and fermented with indigenous yeasts in old barrels. The wine remained on its lees for around one year without racking, following the domaine’s oxidative élevage, which builds texture while allowing the mineral character of the silex to shape the wine. Quartz shows intense citrus oil, white peach, and wild herb notes over a core of smoky, saline minerality. The palate is powerful yet taut, with the deep stony imprint that defines this cuvée.
Origin Soings en Sologne, Loir et Cher, France
Grapes Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage 2022
Alcohol 13%
Style Powerful, smoky, mineral, oxidative
Bottle size 75cl
Winemaking Organic farming, slow pressing, spontaneous fermentation in old barrels, aged on lees for twelve months without racking, unfined, unfiltered, zero sulphur
Notes Zero sulphur, biodynamic influence, low intervention, forest edge biodiversity, terroir expressive