Domaine Jones "On the QT" Bin 25: Carignan Gris 2019

Made by Katie Jones in Tuchan, France

The full name of this rare white includes four words that perfectly sum up its location, its makers and its spirit: off the beaten track.

"When we first got this vineyard, I was like, why do we want this? It's on a stony riverbed, it's flat...,” explains Katie, who together with husband, Jean Marc, creates magic out of 60/70-year-old vines. “But this is one of those cases where the grape variety was more important than the location. Carignan Gris is very obscure. And we really like obscure, weird grapes at Domaine Jones."

La Roque is a little, organic vineyard near Tuchan, on the Languedoc-Roussillon border, about an hour's drive in a blue Citroën Dyane south of Narbonne. It’s a special place to Katie for many reasons, but also because this tiny parcel that measures one third of a hectare contains some of the rarest vines in the world. Only 1.4 hectares of Carignan Gris officially exist – in nearby Perpignan.

One of the reasons for the grape’s obscurity is because it wasn’t listed as an official variety until 2017. It’s no doubt been used in white blends, but probably as a way of using it up, rather than purposefully. And the reason for this, says Katie, is because “Carignan Gris is perhaps the most awkward grape variety to grow. It’s a real pain in the derrière, however beautiful it looks. And it takes forever to ripen." This means Katie and her team hand-pick the parcel twice. The Gris turns a lovely pale pink colour when it's ready to harvest in mid-October – a full month after the Noir (and six weeks after the other whites have been picked!).

It’s worth the wait. This 100% Carignan Gris is in a category all on its own. It’s a bright, straw colour with an earthy character that’s perfect for mushroom risotto, oven-baked asparagus, creamy Camembert or moules marinière (but serve it at room temperature, as it’s a little shy when chilled). It’s not particularly fruity, it is quite herbaceous, there’s lots of minerality and lovely freshness – and it’s this pure taste of a rare grape that drove Katie to making the 695 bottles of 2019. "Most people would run a mile from Carignan Gris, but we absolutely embraced it.”

"On the QT" Bin 20 Single Barrel Vintage Palo Cortado

Made by Antonio Flores at Gonzalez Bypass, Jerez, Spain

"He is the vineyard. He was even born in the bodega," explains Xenia, by way of introduction to the legendary winemaker, Antonio Flores. Antonio has been storing individual barrels of vintage sherries for decades and these are normally either blended through a solera (fractionally blending the wine across multiple barrels of different vintages) or blended together to make single-vintage sherries. But Antonio also appreciated the particular nature of each of these individual barrels. So, he chose one single barrel from 2011, then left it alone. He neither blended and nor topped up to replace the natural evaporation. Apart from lightly fortifying, the wine is exactly the same as it was when originally put in the barrel.

This simplicity of unique-barrel sherry production had never come on to the market before. The style of this barrel is 'Palo Cortado'. Xenia explained, "It's neither a fino nor an amontillado - it developed its very own style. So the traditional way of naming it was to strike through the 'fino' identification on the barrel with a chalk line." And it's this chalk mark that's called 'Palo Cortado'.

Xenia came across the single, 500-litre barrel of this Palo Cortado by accident, while on a weekend in Jerez in 2019... and bought it. Or rather, bought the 320 litres that were left. "That's one very lucky angel," said Xenia, referring to the evaporated sherry - known in the industry as 'the angel's share'.