2022 ÉTANCHER

The tiny Étancher production from 2020 was very experimental in nature. It was as if we wondered aloud whether our fans and friends might be interested in some new-school version of a very old-school wine. The answer seemed to be a rather resounding "YES", we should keep crafting this style of wine. At AMV, we are always learning and improving, even if it is in ways not obvious to everyone else. I really wanted a lighter color and body for this vintage, so we improved our technique a bit, along with our varietal mix - this vintage is 60% Grenache and 40% Cinsault. This was still crafted in the semi-carbonic style, so we decided to place the grapes as gently as possible into their fermenters. Then we blanketed the grapes with CO2 (Dry Ice) to keep any oxygen out and then sealed the open top fermenters up tight. After a few days, the individual berries (still intact on the whole bunches) started to ferment intracellularly. The fermentation was now blanketing itself in CO2, which helped to preserve the fresh and delicate flavors of this new wine. After about 3 weeks, as the CO2 formation began to cease, we then pressed the grapes off skins to avoid any unnecessary skin contact and allowed the young wine to finish fermenting to dryness. (Please link here for a deeper dive into Carbonic Winemaking) We then aged this wine in stainless steel barrels and neutral Burgundy barrels for just a few months before bottling. The 2022 Étancher is light, crushable, sessionable, fruity and spicy wine with a balanced natural acidity and low alcohol (12%). It might be difficult to pronounce, but it really fun to drink and share with loved ones...It is truly the perfect wine for right now!