Roussanne Tinus, Jean-Marie Guffens

Jean Marie Guffens, originally from Belgium, moved to the Macon in the 1976. He tried his hand at acting and working as an architect, but wasn’t making any money doing either. He ended up working in wine sales to make ends meet, which lead on to working in the vineyards. He set up his own domaine in 1979, and become known for his exceptional Burgundian Chardonnays. Uneasy with the spiralling costs of Burgundy wines, he branched out into Provence in 1997 – purchasing Château des Tourettes, a 15ha estate in Luberon. Much warmer climate, but the vineyards are at 420m altitude, giving a relatively cool micro climate and ensuring optimal growing conditions.

He picks his grapes as late as possible, preferring to take his time and asserting that interesting wine requires patience. His wines are known for being full bodied and combining ripe fruit with nervy acidity. The Tinus range is named after his grandfather. This is 100% Roussanne, grown at altitude and matured on it’s lees in concrete. The result is a surprisingly fresh expression of Roussanne, with notes of stone fruit, marmalade, pineapple, buttery patisserie, honeysuckle and plenty minerality.