'Clairette is the brother of Grenache, and the perfect variety for revealing terroir here'

It comes into flower at February's end each year, our mimosa. The little tree explodes as thousands of tiny lemon-yellow pincushions cluster its spindly branches.

- ANDREW JEFFORD

We walk out on cool mornings into a mist of hauntingly sweet, powdery scents. Our almond tree flowers even earlier, though less prolifically; it has a similar though subtler fragrance. Then there's the scent of toasted almonds themselves, and honey, too – and perhaps the two compounded... in nougat. Could we add hawthorn? Honeysuckle, maybe, and linden? Welcome to scent heaven. Now: find me a white wine that smells like that.

Guess what? There is one. These are all scents you might hope to chance on in a glass of fresh young white made from the Clairette grape variety. They were also some of the allusions that I jotted down in March as I blind-tasted through a range of wines from the new Gigondas Blanc appellation, appearing on labels from the 2023 vintage. This can be (and often is) pure Clairette, and must be at least 70% Clairette; balancing varieties include Clairette Rose, Grenache Blanc and Gris, Marsanne and Roussanne, Piquepoul Blanc and Bourboulenc (plus no more than 5% Viognier and Ugni Blanc).