Producer note: The irrepressible Patrick Piuze, who has worked with Jean-Marie Guffens at Verget and Jean-Marc Brocard (see both herein), struck out on his own in 2008 to found an eponymous négociant. Piuze forcefully forswears corrections of any kind, which includes chaptalization (unless absolutely necessary), enzymes, acidification as well as new wood (he uses 6 to 8 year old wood at present with some stainless, depending on the wine in question). With respect to the 2018 vintage, Piuze commented that "as I did in 2016 and 2017 I chose to pick very early because acid levels were falling and I wanted to maintain the freshness and purity of expression at all costs, particularly since the growing season was so hot and dry. As such I began picking a few days earlier than most of my colleagues, which is to say on the 1st of September. The harvest conditions were quite warm and the fruit was super-clean so it made for rapid picking. Yields were variable and they were almost counterintuitive in that the vines older than 40 years of age or so gave the best volumes due to their deeper root systems that gave those vines access to water reserves whereas the younger vines tended to suffer from the drought-like conditions. Potential alcohols were also quite variable as they ranged from 11.8 to 13.2%. The skins were relatively thick and thus there is a seriously good level of dry extract that gives the wines a wonderfully tactile character. In fact so much so that the 2018s should be accessible shortly after they're bottled but the best should age deceptively well." As he did in 2017, I would add that with few exceptions Piuze largely did very well at the lower end of the appellation range and these are wines to buy in quantity as they're inexpensive while offering generally fine quality. (DNS Wines, www.dnswines.com, CA, Aliane Wines, www.AlianeWines.com, CA and Bowler, www.bowlerwine.com, NY, all USA; Bibendum Wine Ltd., www.bibendum-wine.co.uk, Latimer Vintners, www.latimervintners.com, Hallgarten Druitt and Carte Blanche, all UK; L'Imperatrice Fine Wines, www.imperatrice.com.hk, Hong Kong/China/Macau).