Le Grand Blanc Domaine Milan 2018 MAGNUM

LE GRAND BLANC DOMAIN MILAN 2018 MAGNUM – New vintage, natural wine, Provence, pure terroir, rich, ripe, white peach, subtle notes of garrigue, one of our finest, we love it. Depending on the vintage, Grand Blanc is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Rolle, Roussane, Chardonnay and Muscat Petit Grains grown on clay soils with limestone rocks over a blue marl subsoil. I went to the estate to help with the 2013 vintage and we tasted the Grand Blanc with a sommelier from Pierre-Gagnaire, a 3 Michelin Star restaurant in Paris, he loved it and his description was very simple, oh ‘c’est expressif ca! ‘ This is a wine for drinking in my view any time, any place, with any food, but it is quite full and rich so for those used to lighter whites, it would be for richer fish dishes, white meat and Provencal style foods, it is simply delicious wine. The new 18 vintage shows off a great vintage, great balance and still very youthful. This is a white which reward cellaring particularly in the MAGNUM, even though now, it is simply delicious.

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.