Les Cailloux du Paradis - Quartz 2023
Les Cailloux du Paradis - Quartz 2023
Purity of fruit with textural depth
- Mineral
- Precise
- Vibrant
- Textured
- Type
- White
- Grapes
- Menu Pineau, Sauvignon Blanc
- Place
- Loire Valley, France
Free shipping over €150 in Germany · Pickup in Berlin
How it tastes
In the glass
Stone fruit + citrus, mineral tension, saline finish.
Profile
Nose
White stone fruit, citrus zest, pear, a whisper of almond.
Palate
Generous yet precise—integrated acidity with linear drive, plus a tactile mid-palate from extended lees contact.
Finish
Saline-tinged mineral thread, long and vibrant; fleshy but finely etched, with a clear sense of Sologne terroir.
“A stony Loire white shaped by quartz-rich clay and ageing on lees in older barriques.”
How to serve
Getting the best out of it
How to pair it
This is a textured white
Richer whites can take richer food: butter, cream and roast chicken are fair game. Keep the acidity in mind and don’t drown it in sauce.
Match
Flavours that echo the wine.
- White meat (roast chicken, rabbit)
- Mushrooms
- Creamy rice and pasta (risotto)
- Hard cheeses
Contrast
Opposites that make each other better.
- Smoked fish (trout, mackerel)
- Fatty pork (pork belly)
- Salty aged cheese (pecorino)
Careful with
Combinations that flatten the wine.
- Very spicy dishes
- Red meat in red sauce
- Sweet desserts
Terroir & winemaking
From the vineyard to the bottle
Natural white from the Loire Valley, crafted by Etienne Courtois in Soings-en-Sologne.
- Vines
- Predominantly old vines — 60% Menu Pineau, 40% Sauvignon Blanc
- Soils
- Clay with quartz-rich stones
- Farming
- Organic
- Cellar
- Hand-picked grapes · gentle press · indigenous yeasts · ageing on lees in older barriques
- Additions
- No added sulphites · no fining or filtration
Where it's from · Loire Valley, France
Sologne
Les Cailloux du Paradis sits around Soings-en-Sologne, near Cheverny in the Loire Valley — one of France’s most unusual terroirs for wine. Here, poor but living soils of flinty clay and quartz intermingle with pastures and woodland, so the land feels alive underfoot, feeding vines through deep root systems and natural moisture.
More from Loire Valley: a few picks
The winemaker · Sologne, Loire Valley, France (Vin de France)
Les Cailloux du Paradis
Artisan vignerons crafting wild, living wines from the heart of Sologne
Les Cailloux du Paradis was born from the vision of Claude Courtois, a true pioneer of natural wine who, over 20+ years ago, established a wine farm in the Sologne — a landscape of thin clay soils, woods, fields, and grasslands seldom associated with viticulture.
“In my wines, I have only grapes.”
- Style
- Natural, terroir-expressive reds & whites
- Vineyards
- ~13–18 ha interwoven with woodland & fields
- Farming
- No chemicals, biodiversity-first viticulture
- Grapes
- Gamay, Côt/Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon, Romorantin, Pineau d’Aunis & more
- Signature
- Long élevage, indigenous ferments, pure expression
Picked by us
If you like this, try
Not an algorithm: three bottles we would open next, and what they have in common.
Good to know
Questions we get a lot
Is this a natural wine?
All our wines come from small growers who farm organically or biodynamically and keep intervention in the cellar to a minimum: native yeasts, little or no added sulphites. Every producer has their own approach; the details are in “From the vineyard to the bottle” above.
Why is it a bit cloudy, or is there sediment?
Many of our wines are bottled unfiltered. A light haze or some sediment is natural and harmless: stand the bottle upright for a few hours and pour gently.
How long does it keep once open?
It depends on the wine (see “Once open” above). As a rule: cork back in and keep it in the fridge, reds included.
When will my order arrive?
We ship Tuesday to Saturday, usually right away. In Germany delivery takes 2–3 working days; rates for every country are on our shipping page.
Can I pick up in Berlin?
Yes. Choose pickup at checkout and collect your order at our shop in Berlin.