# Maison Valette Et Pourtant... NV (NV)

- **Producer:** Maison Valette
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chardonnay
- **Region:** Burgundy, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €45
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** blossom, pear, apple, quince, plum, orange, lemon, ginger, butter, cream, honey

## About this wine

Domaine Valette was founded in Chaintré in 1977 by Gérard Valette, one of the first in the Mâconnais region to break away from local cooperatives and bottle wine under his own family label. His son Philippe joined in 1990 and transitioned the estate to organic and biodynamic practices in 1992 following an encounter with Jura winemaking icon Pierre Overnoy. The cuvée name 'Et Pourtant...' ('And Yet...') carries a legendary origin: when submitted to the AOC Viré-Clessé committee, it was rejected for being too atypical due to its natural, un-sulfured style. In response, Philippe invoked Galileo's famous line 'Eppur si muove' to highlight how a natural expression of terroir was unfairly denied appellation status.

## Interesting facts

- Named 'Et Pourtant...' ('And Yet...') as a protest after AOC officials rejected this natural wine as atypical.
- Philippe Valette converted to natural viticulture in 1992 after being inspired by Jura legend Pierre Overnoy.
- Bottled completely without added sulfur since 2000, relying on extended lees aging for natural preservation.

## Food pairing

The combination of generous texture, high alcohol, and piercing mineral acidity enables this rich Chardonnay to cut through decadent cream sauces, rich poultry, and earthy wild mushrooms. Its umami complexity matches mature hard cheeses and delicate seafood beautifully.

## Wine making process

Crafted from 60 to 70-year-old Chardonnay vines grown on clay-limestone soils. Harvested by hand at full phenolic maturity, the grapes undergo slow pneumatic pressing with brief skin contact. Spontaneous fermentation occurs in neutral oak barrels using indigenous yeasts without added sulfur or chemical inputs. The wine is aged on fine lees for 12 months in used French oak barrels, followed by 18 months in neutral tanks. It is blended in a multi-vintage solera arrangement before bottling unfined, unfiltered, and without added SO2.