Cypres de Toi Blanc

Winemaker: Laetitia Ourliac & Rodolphe Gianesini

Appellation:Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Grape Varieties: Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay grown on calcareous soil and blue marl in Escales. A crowd-pleasing, food-friendly white made with grapes purchased from a certified organic neighbor. Minimal SO2 added at bottling. A companion for the warmer months, with notes of Asian pear and granny smith apples conjuring up an imaginary outdoor lunch. Hints of thyme oil, fresh-squeezed lemon and herbes de Provence make the case for a pairing with any meal, really—breakfast through dinner.

From the Brigitte Bardot of Corbières and her endearing husband come the wines of Fond Cyprès, a soulful, luscious lineup of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Muscat, Cinsault and blends thereof.

The couple, whose real names are Laetitia Ourliac & Rodolphe Gianesini, is intent on producing wines that express their sultry slice of the Languedoc — specifically, Escales, in the northernmost part of the Corbières AOC. Their domaine begins at the end of a road lined with Cypress trees and extends in either direction across 15ha of lush vegetation, a secret garden of olives, tomatoes, eggplants, wild herbs, and newly-born kittens.

We first met Laetitia and Rodolphe in the deep, damp recesses of Cave Ackerman on a February afternoon in the Loire, and even then their wines were singing. But when we pulled up to their home in August and were greeted by bowls of freshly grilled palourdes, mussels, garlic, and parsley cooked in the juice we were about to drink, we understood their wines had made it feel like summer all along.