A really exciting winery based in the Fenouillèdes in Cotes Catalanes, La Soula has started turning heads in recent years, garnering respect from a fine wine world that has long overlooked this incredible winemaking region.

Scoring 17++/20 from JancisRobinson.com's Tamlyn Currin, their Cotes Catalanes Blanc 2016 is a 'shape shifter' that demands drinkers attention. Made from a biodynamic blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Vermentino, plus six other white varietals, 'there is an allusion to honey and hawthorn' in this wine that is also 'rigid and toweringly intellectual' (TC).

Certainly something a bit different to the French whites most of us are use to, wine from this part of the Languedoc-Rousillon has its very own clear identity. The high altitude vineyards, with close proximity to the foothills of the Pyrenees and of the Mediterranean sea, produce fresher and lower alcohol wines than its Southern location might indicate. As a boutique winery, the Cotes Catalanes Blanc is made very small quantities considering its humble price-point, with only 1,650 cases made in 2016.

Alongside notable critic scores, there are few higher acknowledgements for the skill of a winemaker than one of their wines being selected to be served at a Michelin Star restaurant and La Soula's phenomenal Cotes Catalanes Blanc is served by the glass at Heston Blumenthal's Three Michelin Star 'The Fat Duck'.

Offered today at just £130 per case IB, it is wines like the Cotes Catalanes Blanc 2016 that reinvigorate ones vinous passion. Currin believes 'the future beauty of this wine lifts the hair on the back of your neck'. You will be mad to deny a white like this.