The story of Melle Jeanne begun in the spring of 2016, when the late frosts of April wreaked havoc on many vines in Europe. The vineyards of Catherine and Manuel are located in the heart of Auvergne, and produced very little white grapes due to the weather. Fortunately, the solidarity between natural winegrowers welcomed purchases and exchanges of grapes between the regions; L’Égrappille exchanged some of its red Gamays for white grapes produced by Anthony Tortul in La Sorga. This is how the grape varietals of Colombard and Mauzac from Languedoc joined Chardonnay, Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc and Vieux Gamay d’Auvergne for this improbable blend.
Mauzac, Chardonnay and the Gamays were directly pressed. The Colombard (only its ripest grains were selected) was macerated for 2 months to give a sweet aromatic touch to the blend.
Over a year of aging in a Dame-jeanne (“demijohn”); a traditional blown glass carboy dating back to the end of the 18th century. Hence, the ‘Melle Jeanne’ cuvée being a small volume of 375 mL took its name from the larger 50 L ‘Dame-jeanne’. In this context, “Melle” refers to mademoiselle (young lady) and “Dame” refers to madame.
An unusual blend with a golden robe; rich floral aromatics with the sweetness of white fruits from candied and macerated Colombard grapes. A nutty touch, constant freshness and a lot of fun, always contained in a delicate manner.
In the world of Francophone comics, Mademoiselle Jeanne is a character associated with the albums of Gaston Lagaffe; where we can discover their somewhat naive and clumsy office romance. The label ‘Melle Jeanne 2016’ was designed by the French comic book illustrator Justine Saint-Lô. Justine is well known amongst the natural wines lovers for designing the labels of her winegrower brother François Saint-Lô. Justine also joined with Fleur Godart and illustrated a portrait of 25 winegrowers for the comic strip ‘Pur jus’ published in 2016.