Clos Bateau – Aptemiz 2023

Aptemiz 2023 is a rare natural wine crafted by Clos Bateau, in the Beaujolais region in . This orange wine is made with grapes aged in Qvevri for 10 months. And this a wine which shows how well Chardonnay can be with maceration, often not really done in ways that work too well. Here the grapes macerate on the skins for 10 months in an underground Qvevri buried in their front garden.

 Being 10 months maceration, it’s not as strong as you might expect on tannins and gives off a certain elegance. We asked Clos Bateau why this is with 10 months skin contact, and they told us this is actually as there is a point in skin-contact maceration (also with reds) where the longer you go, the softer the tannins become after being very harsh months before. Quite interesting, that there is a turning point with this!

 We found notes of canned pineapple, herbaceous twists and most interestingly, dried apple slices.

About Aptemiz from Clos Bateau

In 2020 we did a test with a 2 year maceration of chardonnay to see the flow of the wine with quite long maceration. This is something we do by feeling, curiosity and testing to see what will be the right amount of time. That’s why we decided the last 2 years to have a bit longer maceration for Aptemiz. For 23 it turned out the magical 10 months. The grapes where destemmed by hand on a wooden board and after vinified and aged in Qvevri amphora.

Production of just 670 bottles