Zéro Sauvignon Blanc 2023

The Chavin Zéro Sauvignon Blanc cuvée is made by the house of Chavin, based in Béziers, in the Hérault, in the heart of the Languedoc. Sold under the name Vin de France désalcoolisé (dealcoholised), it draws on wines from the south of France, where the sunny, dry Mediterranean climate, cooled by sea breezes, favours healthy, aromatic grapes. This dealcoholised white is made exclusively from Sauvignon Blanc from the Hérault, selected for its freshness and the intensity of its aromas.

The Sauvignon Blanc is vinified as a dry white, preserving the grape's freshness and aromatic clarity. The wine is then dealcoholised by vacuum evaporation, without pasteurisation, at a temperature not exceeding 35 °C. This gentle process preserves the wine's sensory characteristics and gives a fresh, clear drink with no sediment. No flavourings are added: the whole aromatic profile comes from the grape and its vinification.

This wine reveals notes of blackcurrant bud, boxwood, elderflower, acacia, grapefruit, lime, passion fruit and freshly cut grass. The pale yellow colour with bright glints heralds a herbaceous profile typical of the grape, lifted by a floral touch and exotic fruit. The palate is fresh and precise, carried by fine acidity and a clean finish.

The cradle of wine culture in Western Europe, France owes its first vines to the Greeks of Phocaea, who settled around Marseille some twenty-six centuries ago, before the Romans spread viticulture along the Rhône and the Garonne and as far as Champagne. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian and Benedictine monks cleared the slopes of Burgundy and patiently mapped out the climats, laying the foundations of the notion of terroir. The 19th century brought the glory of the classifications, then the disaster of phylloxera, which wiped out the vineyards before they were rebuilt on American rootstocks; the creation of the appellations d'origine contrôlée in the 1930s then set the rules that would inspire the whole world. Today, France vies every year with Italy and Spain for first place in world production by volume and remains the ultimate benchmark of the Old World, as much for its age-worthy wines as for its winemaking models. Vineyards cover almost the entire country, from the cool north of Champagne and Alsace to the Mediterranean shores of Languedoc and Provence, by way of the oceanic climates of Bordeaux, the Loire and the South-West, continental Burgundy, the steep slopes of the northern Rhône and the high-altitude valleys of Savoie and the Jura. This mosaic of soils – limestone, schist, gravel or rounded pebbles – explains the extraordinary diversity of styles. As for grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate Bordeaux and produce structured reds, Pinot Noir is the signature of Burgundian finesse, Syrah of the depth of the Rhône, while Grenache, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre cover every register, from easy-drinking wines to wines for long ageing. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Riesling and Viognier offer expressions ranging from lively and mineral to unctuous, all the way to great sweet wines. A land of benchmarks and constant discoveries, France remains the compass for wine lovers the world over.