Tasting notes: Cicada Blanc
Cicada Blanc. Easy-drinking, unoaked and not too serious but still a properly flavoursome white wine with lovely aromatics on the nose, nice weight on the palate and a fresh, bright finish.
Food match
Coconut flavoured Thai and Vietnamese dishes, or as a delicious foil to barbecued or grilled mackerel.
Producer/Region:
An unusual blend of Viognier (30%), Picpoul Blanc (30%) and Grenache Blanc (40%). Sourced from clay limestone soils in Richerenes in the Vaucluse for the Grenache Blanc and Picpoul, with the Viognier sourced in the Northern Rhône (so the wine is classified as Vin de France). Vinified in stainless steel, with a short maceration of one week. Alex Favier then puts the final blend together.
Chante Cigale, whose name inspires the warm summers of Provence, is a 52-hectare estate whose parcels are located in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. While the vast majority of the estate’s wines are produced in the Chateauneuf-de-Pape AOC, other wines are produced in the Mediterranee IGP. A few hectares are also located in Travaillan, a commune in the Vaucluse not far from the town of Orange, where old vines flourish to produce Vins de France.
It was Paul Jourdan , when he was at the head of the family business in the first half of the 20th century, who christened the estate ‘Chante Cigale’ (Singing Cicada). The estate has remained in the capable hands of successive generations and it is now Alexandre Favier who has been working the estate in total independence since 1999.
