Le Jardin Domaine Milan 2011/14

Le Jardin Domaine Milan 2011/14, natural wine, 100% Merlot, old vines, same soil as Pomerol. Le Jardin is a rare wine. 100% Merlot, the soils are made of clay with limestone screes on a subsoil of blue marls, the same soil type as can be found in Pomerol. This cuvée is called by some people, 'Provencal Petrus' thanks to the nature of the soils and the grape variety used. It is certainly a wine of great class, medium colour, full bodied but very fresh with supple dark fruits, minerals, notes of herbs, bell pepper and leather as it matures. Class, class wine.
When Henri Milan makes wine, he really does just let nature take its course. The man is slow, methodical and very, very relaxed, his wines are precise and expressive, quite a contrast. His terroir is fantastic. From that terroir which Henri knows how to capture and express in the wines, there is an extra layer of depth, the wine is alive and open and brings you the intoxicating scents and flavours of a Provencal summer in every sip!

Henri Milan has always done thing his way, and broke away from the Baux de Provence AOC so as to have the freedom to produce the wines he wanted. The Domaine was started by Henri's father Robert in 1956, but it wasn't until Henri took over in the mid-80s that he converted to organic production. Influenced by Claude Courtois and Claude Bourguignon, Henri began to vinify the different sections of his vineyard separately and moved further towards natural production. He now grows a number of grape varieties including Grenache, Syrah, Grenache Blanc, Rolle, Roussanne and Chardonnay. The only chemical treatment used during the entire process of growth and vinification is a small amount of sulphur dioxide, which is added, on some rare occasions, during bottling. Fermentation always takes place naturally, with the grapes blended at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end. His wines have a wonderful purity and expression of terroir.