# Le Vieux Cailloux (2022)

- **Producer:** Benoît Camus
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chardonnay
- **Region:** Beaujolais, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €21
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** lemon, grapefruit, apple, peach, butter, cream

## About this wine

Benoît Camus is a celebrated natural winemaking figure based in Ville-sur-Jarnioux in the Pierres Dorées area of southern Beaujolais. Operating out of an old caravan among his vines nicknamed Château Roulant, Camus farmed organically for years and supplied grapes to legendary natural producers before bottling under his own name. Le Vieux Cailloux comes from a tiny 0.5-hectare plot of Chardonnay grown on clay-limestone and marl soils, making it a rare white cuvée from a region dominated by red Gamay production.

## Interesting facts

- Benoît Camus famously lived in an old caravan among his vines, humorously dubbed Château Roulant.
- Chardonnay represents only 0.5 hectares of Camus' small estate in southern Beaujolais.
- For years, Camus sold most of his grape harvest to natural wine legend Philippe Jambon.

## Food pairing

This rich and textured white wine pairs exceptionally well with dishes offering richness, creaminess, or savory depth. Its elevated acidity helps cut through fat in roasted poultry and buttery seafood, while its structural core supports aged and soft cheeses.

## Wine making process

Fermented spontaneously using native yeasts in stainless steel and concrete vessels. The wine undergoes low-intervention winemaking with aging on coarse lees prior to bottling. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal to zero added sulfites.