2018 Mathieu Allante et Christian Boulanger Sous Poids

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 90.7 points

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  5/29/2023 - Pey2001 Likes this wine:

  Was confused by the beer cap and thought this might have been a pet nat but it is definitely still 😅. Citrus and a bit of pithy natural wine essence on the nose. It is wild and energetic on the tongue. Yellow fruit, VA, and a prickly minerality and sharp acidity. It is definitely a natural wine! Has a kind of cidery edge, which is maybe primed by the beer cap. Both rich and fresh and fascinating, but not for everyone. These producers are never boring. V good 👍🏻

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  5/18/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Fragrant and citrusy nose with lemon zest notes, minerals, and just a hint of VA. Lovely acidity with more lemon on the palate, along with saline notes, chalk, and yuzu. Nice finish. This is my first experience with this producer and it did not disappoint! Lovely, reasonably complex wine, really well made, and drinking perfectly right now.

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  3/8/2023 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  For some reason this bottle is closed with a crown cap, fooling one into believing this is a pét-nat. Well, this is a still white wine made with Chardonnay grapes sourced from the 80-yo lieu-dit Patarate in Rotalier, vinified by Mathieu Allante and Christian Boulanger, both who have previously worked at Labet. After direct pressing of the fruit, the must is fermented spontaneously, aged for 20 months in an old foudre and bottled without fining, filtration or any added sulfites. 13% alcohol.
  
  Medium-deep, quite intense and very slightly hazy yellow-green color. The nose feels pretty ripe and somewhat sweet-toned with a bit wild aromas of rich yellow fruits, some leathery funk, a little bit of creamy oak, light phenolic spice and a sharp hint of acetic VA. The wine feels ripe, broad and somewhat concentrated on the palate with a rather full body and rather sauvage flavors of lemony citrus fruits and sharp Granny Smith apple tones, some tangy saline notes, a little bit of woody and even slightly woolly oak character, light acetic notes of VA, a funky hint of rustic bretty character and a touch of grapefruit marmalade. The mouthfeel is slightly viscous, lending it a subtly oily feel, but there is enough acidity to keep things fresh, precise and structured. The finish is brisk, moderately funky and quite long with an intense aftertaste of ripe lemony citrus fruits, some sharp acetic notes of VA, a little bit of stony minerality, light tangy saline nuances, oaky hints of creaminess and sweet, toasty oak spice and a bretty touch of waxy funk.
  
  I can sort of understand the hype behind these Allante-Boulanger wines - there is impressive sense of depth and concentration here, juxtaposed against brisk acidity and quite pronounced minerality, making the wine feel somewhat similar to the great whites of Ganevat, Labet and the like. However, the best producers are so great because they can make fully natural wines that don't taste natural wines at all - despite all the non-interventionist stuff and complete lack of sulfites, the wines are remarkably clean and show tremendous vibrancy of fruit. Well, this one doesn't. Although not too excessive, the VA still feels a bit too pronounced and acetic for my taste and the bretty funk doesn't really add to the freshness or precision of the wine. Furthermore, I feel the oak impact comes across pretty awkward here. All in all, there is a lot to like here, but this still ain't a bullseye. A good wine that might get even better with age, but I say it takes still a bit more work to have these wines hold a candle to the best Ganevat whites. At 39,95€ the wine is quite expensive for its quality and at its current price of approx. 70€ this wine feels quite heavily overpriced.

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