Clients who go way back with us will remember Guffens’ deliciously quirky multi-vintage blend, Au Fil du Temps. Finally, it is back on the menu, now with a new name and label. For those new to this wine, it works something like a perpetual blend (as opposed to a true solera), whereby the mother base is refreshed each year with new vintage wines, while a similar percentage is bottled off to order.

For those new to Guffens’ multi-vintage wines, they are crafted something like a perpetual blend (as opposed to a true solera), whereby the base is refreshed each year with new vintage wines. At the same time, a similar percentage is bottled off to order. Marsanne-based, with decreasing amounts of Roussanne, Viognier, Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon, the juice is stored in 200-hl variable capacity tanks on lees. Hence, the wine stays fresh and develops slowly. This, alongside the different varietal proportions added each year, means there is a degree of vintage variation with each new bottling.

Expect a gluggable potpourri of chalky yellow fruits from the Roussanne, the waxy touch of Marsanne and the brioche-like complexity of Chardonnay, with a pulse of preserved lemon and white pepper balancing out the fleshy structure. It finishes fresh with a pinch of food-friendly phenolics, even if the wine is delicious all on its own.

The aged material brings complexity and texture, and the young wines bring freshness and verve. It really works. This particular bottling is based on the 2018 vintage; hence, the name (moyenne means ‘the average’).

The idea behind the blend is quite matter of fact. Guffens simply felt he could produce—from a palette of vintages—an inexpensive bistro white that would taste greater than the sum of its parts. It’s made up from his pressings and young vines and other parcels that Guffens doesn’t know what to do with.

Marsanne-based, with decreasing amounts of Roussanne, Viognier, Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon, the juice is stored in 200-hl variable capacity tanks, on lees, so the wine stays fresh and develops slowly. This, alongside the different varietal proportions added each year, means that there is a degree of vintage variation with each new bottling.