LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE (SUMMER BOTS)

Source note: This post is adapted from Parched's August 20, 2026 newsletter

Hey,

How we doing? Welcome change to embrace a little rain, isn't it.

Anyway, I had a bottle of wine recently and immediately bought some online. These days, few wines move me to act that instantaneously. However, drinking, not tasting, a bottle of Tricot reminded me of the sheer joy a wonderful bottle of wine can bring. Zero zero Auvergne that's delicious and fault free. Wild and captivating without falling off the cliff.

The bottle in question. A cherry-fruited fistful of Gamay with so much crunch, backed up by a slight but pleasing Auvergnat smoke and minerality. It's impossible not to like. Maybe I'm biased, I was sat outside, the eclipse was eclipsing and a friend was cooking up some lovely jerk chicken. A very good pairing too. Still, a great wine stand alone, and certainly one of the more pleasurable things I've drunk recently.

The rosé is just as chuggable. Even lighter, but it could still pass as a light rouge if you're scared of pink with actual colour. The fruit leans more fresh strawberries and raspberry, with that herbal, almost grassy edge making it feel lime-like. Again, unmistakable Auvergne mineral imprint on the finish.

The white, again, shows why Tricot have a cult following in the zero zero circles. It's at once floral and aromatic from the Muscat but restrained, almost taut and saline from the Chardo. The addition of Aligoté further cleans things up for a citric, sea spray joy of a wine. So so so good.

Whilst I was feelin' the Auvergne, thought it was about time we reloaded from ex-pat zine star Hannah. Maybe this is the last of the hand-painted, individualistic labels. Rotas is a bright and effortless négoce Cinsault, as per the house style. Perfumed and plummy, it's one hell of a picnic wine. A new orange wine that looks the part, aptly named Sunny D. Viognier that's gone all tropical and pithy. Cloudy and textured in the best sense. I personally like my orange juice with bits anyway.

Over in Burgs and I nearly smashed through a bottle of this over the weekend. It was so good I needed to restrain myself and watch the last few glasses over the course of a couple of days, to see if I was imagining things. Nope, it really was that good. 24+ months undisturbed in neutral vessels giving it a very Jurassic thing going on. More mineral than most Mâcon too, but still priced like it should be. This punched way up.

If you like Burgundy that's featherweight and full of limestone lift, La Mutine is a name you need to know. Up in Vézelay, an outpost west of Dijon but south of Chablis. Wines can be characterised by cooling acid profiles, mint-like herbal tones, and a real presence of limestone verticality on the palate.

Lifetime somm Jean-Paul Pando could not resist the vineyard life. Notable experience was gained at Roulot before setting up this shiny new domain. Although these wines feel stylistically very different, the rigorous and meticulous handling of fruit shines through as per his mentor. Basically, do not expect a Roulot Meursault here. Firstly, we're in Vézelay lol. Secondly, these feel more in line with the free-flowing, part of the new wave of more natural-leaning ex-pat Burgundy vignerons. Effortless and breezy but still with complexity.

As the world gets warmer, these are the sites we should be looking at for wines that offer real refreshment. The Chardo is ripping, vibrant and pretty. It slices down the palate, crystalline in its freshness. The Bourgogne Rouge is a whole bunch masterclass. Savouriness and spice from stems but without being too green and stemmy. Purer than pure. Very energetic Pinot. It's hard to put down.

Finally, the cult-like and cute labels of Dandelion. We've got to wait a little longer for the new red release, but the Pet-Nat is back with the shiny new 2025 vintage. It is as textured and wild as ever. Undisgorged and all the better for it. Don't say that often either. A Cider too, from a very special orchard that remained unsprayed, picked by Christian with the help of the 95-year-old owner, king. Supplemented with some fruit from backyards in Northern Beaune. How idyllic is France? Anyway, a richer gastronomic cider that can see you from aperitif through to the cheese course. We've got some reds that are purring since initial release. Last odds and ends here.

Ok, G2G. Well, not really, I'm already gone. Thanks to the powers of email marketing, as this hits your inbox I should be mid-flight en route to a long weekend in the EU. Business as usual in my absence.

Bisou
Fionn
xoxo