DIDIER CAZAC
Aïssada 2021
Ardèche, France
This gorgeous take on Grenache Blanc comes from a forty year old parcel planted over clay and limestone. The grapes were pressed directly to cuve for a short élevage, producing a pale, straw yellow wine that pairs delicate notes of apricot, honey and sea salt to beautiful effect.
Grenache Blanc
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Didier Cazac is amongst a handful of talented young growers leading the next generation in one of France’s most exciting regions, the Ardèche.
We first met Didier last autumn at the home of Samuel Boulay, who had spoken highly of his young friend’s work. As a discreet man who isn’t fond of fanfare, his praise piqued our interest and the wines we enjoyed over lunch and afterwards at Didier’s cellar left a lasting impression.
Didier has worked in vineyards for the best part of two decades, growing fruit for others and saving enough money to travel through Africa in his free time. However, it was a harvest spent working alongside legendary Ardèchoise vigneron Giles Azzoni that opened his eyes to a new way of making wine, leading him down the path he follows today.
Didier now farms two hectares of vines amongst the forest outside the picturesque village of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc in the region’s South. Planted over clay and limestone, they are surrounded by streams, which lend freshness in what is an increasingly warm and arid place in which to grow grapes.
In his small cave in the village, he works with the most basic of tools in a decidedly unfussy fashion to produce wines of great purity and life.
Despite his laidback and easygoing nature, his talent for growing and gentle hand in the cellar allows Didier to produce wines with nuance and complexity, along with plenty of the inimitable charm for which the region is so well known.