Chez Jau Rivesaltes Ambre 50cl

This wonderful dessert is a golden amber in colour. The nose is full of bright honey, ginger loaf and the skins of freshly peeled oranges. On the palate there is spiciness and more rich notes of ginger and toasted almonds. The acidity is balanced and the finish lengthy and intense.

Manual harvesting, direct pressing occurs to preserve varietal character. Muting stops the action of the yeasts before they have been able to transform all the sugar into alcohol. This is how the Rivesaltes retain some of the natural sweetness contained in the fruit. The maturation in the woods is done in 60 hectolitre barrels. They continued to mature slowly and lasted several years.

Aged for 2 years with exposure to air for oxidation, much in the way of sherry and Madeira. The wine is then aged in oak barrels for a few months before release. This process gives up caramelised wines with sweet, nutty aromas and flavours with a good deal of residual acidity.

Chateau de Jau is situated at Collioure, a picturesque fishing village on the Mediterranean coast, part of France's southernmost AOC. The estate is owned by the forward-thinking and ambitious Daure family who acquired the estate in 1974.