Tsituri

Tsituri 2023

Region: France, Languedoc

Grape: Bourboulenc

Color: Orange

A delightful, true Southern French orange wine with plenty of fruit volume.

We immediately ordered it after tasting, but the importer quickly sold out... We received only a small allocation.
It has a deep amber-gold color, with aromas of osmanthus, mango, and natsumikan (Japanese summer orange). The attack is dry with a pleasant bitterness of orange peel, and a good acidity provides a nice accent.

Tsituri means "redhead" in Georgian and was named after the producer's red-haired daughter. Bourboulenc grapes were whole-cluster macerated for three weeks, then pressed, fermented in fiberglass tanks, and aged in oak barrels.

【Producer Information】

Jeremie Choquet, a new winery in the Loire region established in 2018, is a promising young Loire producer known for producing exceptionally clean wines. His partner, Blandine Floch, launched a new winery. Jeremie and Blandine met in 2015 while working at Thierry Puzelat and Les Vins Contes. They started making wine together in 2018 and also had a child. Unfortunately, they later went their separate ways.

In 2020, due to legal rights, two companies produced wine in the same winery. Therefore, her wines were labeled Domaine du Chat Huant, separate from Jeremie's. In 2021, she finally found a new winery, changed her company from a Domaine to a négociant, and became Le Chat Huant.

Blandine was born in the Loire on September 17, 1986. She graduated from the Bac Pro Viti-Oeno winemaking school in Amboise, where she thoroughly studied enology. She learned winemaking at Les Vins Contes in 2011 and 2012, then studied modern winemaking before ultimately choosing natural wine.

In the 2021 vintage, the Loire, especially Cheverny, north of our Touraine, suffered catastrophic damage. Olivier, Blandine, and other producers lost as much as 90% of their grapes. So, everyone in the Loire bought organic grapes from their friends in the South of France and made wine. They all went to the South of France, harvested, rented trucks to transport the grapes back to the Loire, and then vinified them. In such years, everyone helps each other.
Blandine's first year as an independent producer was so challenging. But they say, "Start a business during a recession!" Those who start independently in such years are strong.

For the 2023 vintage, Blandine moved her winery from the Loire to Languedoc.
Prior to this move, she and Jeremie also parted ways as private partners. Since then, she has continued as a négociant in Languedoc, making wine from grapes sourced from both the Loire and the South of France.