Top quality whites from....Roussillon

I recently had the chance to compare three great dry white 2003s from a corner of France not commonly associated with such a style, the rocky hills of Roussillon in the eastern Pyrenean foothills. Gérard Gauby began to blaze this particular trail in the late 1980s (and Fernand Vaquer’s eccentric white table wines were always better than this reds) but it has taken time to put this full-bodied but wonderfully tense, mineral style on the international map. 

Le Soula, a joint venture between Gauby, local grower Eric Laguerre and British importer Richards showed the way. I have...