Silex Chardonnay, Le Mas des Masques

A one-off freak of nature that tastes like a Puligny-Montrachet from Leflaive! Our white wine of the year. A customer wrote in and said “amazing”,“scrumptious”, “one of the best whites I have ever tasted”".

Tasting Notes

Apart from water-boarding Jeremy Kyle, it is very difficult to reach a consensus on anything these days and we are well aware that not everyone will agree with us when we say that this non-vintage Chardonnay is one of the most exciting wines on the planet, but we stand firm. There is so much intrigue and complexity on the nose alone, with its mineral sharpness, its pithy citrus notes and its hint of controlled oxidation, that you could easily mistake it for a Puligny-Montrachet from Domaine Leflaive. The palate also has a Burgundian richness, with layers of nutty, ripe, full-bodied fruit with just a hint of the salty Mediterranean. Amazing stuff! 14% alc. Drink now-2018.

Press Note:

Jancis Robinson: “If you go for that struck-match quality in your white burgundy, this wine is a steal. It has it in spades. In fact it is almost a pastiche of the style but I found it was a wine I came back to again and again over several nights. In fact it was a sample bottle that got finished - almost a record in our household. It was Swig that drew it to my attention. And it's a really interesting story. This Provençal estate is run by a friend of Yves Cuilleron of Condrieu and Vins de Vienne. Mas des Masques, Silex Chardonnay NV Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhône is sold as a non-vintage wine because the 2007 stubbornly refused to go through malolactic fermentation, so the winemaker called his friend Yves Cuilleron to ask for advice. According to James Bloom of Swig, 'Cuilleron tasted the 2007 and loved the mineral, struck-match character and didn't want to lose that, so he blended 30% of the thoroughly lactic 2008 into the blend. Voilà!' My tasting note before a score of 17/20 and suggested drinking dates of 2011-14 reads 'Yummy, just-this-side-of-exaggerated struck-match aromas overlay some pretty ripe fruit. I wonder why this is non vintage? There's a strong salty character to this wine as well as its satiny palate. Finishes bone dry. Quite a lot of luxurious sensation for the money. Just a little faint, even faintly austere, on the end but definitely a good buy. GV [Good value].”

Customer Comments:

"Our Silex arrived last week and we opened the first bottle last night. Mrs Day is the white wine lover here and I thought you might like to hear what she has to say about the Silex – “amazing”, “scrumptious”, “one of the best whites I have ever tasted” – how about that for an unsolicited endorsement ! We cannot yet pin down all the flavours and bouquet; re-reading your tasting notes we see that you too were not precise on this point and wonder if you too had the same challenge. Best regards, Ian D." "One of the few wines that claims to be Puligny like and actually is!" Gareth B. "Just polished off a bottle of Les Silex Chardonnay and it reminded me of Chivite 125 Coleccion Chard or maybe Paul Drapers Santa Cruz or MonteBello Chardonnay which is no mean feat as they are two of my favourite full bodied whites. I hope that you can secure future parcels of this as it will become a firm favourite of mine." Well done, Dan W "The Silex is frankly amazing. I woke up in a cold sweat thinking you might sell out before I snagged some more,. It tastes like I'd imagine cordite would. Each sip is like being shot in the palate with a blank!" Grant S.