In a world of uncertainty and unhappiness, moments of pleasure and joy feel all the more precious. They deserve to be appreciated in the moment and cherished in the memory. One such occasion came recently during a short stay in Nice.

I asked Jeff Coutelou to recommend a wine bar / restaurant in the city. His reply was clear and unequivocal, La Part Des Anges, 17 Rue Gubernatis.

Coutelou bottles everywhere

I would urge any wine loving visitor to Nice to go, the food was exceptional: fresh, full of flavour, great ingredients allowed to speak clearly for themselves. The cellar is a treasure trove, indeed it was selected as the best in France by Revue du Vin De France. Browsing the wine list online Ione entry leaped off the page: Domaine Des Miroirs, perhaps the most sought after and elusive unicorn producer in the natural wine world.

Back in 2016 at The Real Wine Fair I was very fortunate to attend a tasting of the Miroirs range which was amazing. Every bottle was pure joy; clean, pure, perfectly balanced between fruit and freshness. I am sometimes asked to name the best wines I have ever tasted and the Miroirs ‘Sonorité Du Vent 2013’ is always my choice for white wine. Pure Chardonnay it was ethereal, subtle yet full, mineral yet rounded – a wine in perfect harmony.

I remember winemaker Kenjiro Kagami, who runs the domaine with his wife Mayumi, as shy, smiling and somewhat bemused by all the plaudits on the day. His wines spoke for him. Unfortunately for me those wines had already begun to be praised far and wide. With just 4ha of vines and huge, global demand it became almost impossible to get hold of a bottle, any bottle, of Miroirs wine. Prices soared past 500€ on grey markets while Kagami himself sadly receives only a fraction of that.

Kenjiro Kagami in 2016 and with Jura wine expert Wink Lorch

Seeing bottles on the LPDA wine list was a surprise but so too was the price, at well below those grey market prices. On my first visit I mentioned this whilst admiring the shelves stocked with so many bottles I would love to try. To my astonishment Olivier said that that occasionally he was able to source a bottle and made a call. No doubt my association with Jeff opened that door. When I returned three days later I was still doubtful but there it was waiting for me.

Not the AOC Côtes Du Jura Sonorité du Vent but Mizuiro Les Saugettes 2021, a Vin De France. This comes from the highest of the domaine’s Chardonnay vineyards rather than the lower slopes of the AOC vineyard. The grapes are fermented in old French oak, aged 14 months on lees with gentle bâtonnage, building complexity through that quiet, careful élevage.

The wine itself was electric, tingling on the tongue with lime and spice, cleansing the palate, lingering long after swallowing. Thrilling. Perhaps not quite the concentration of Sonorité perhaps being from those higher vineyards, but still one of the finer white wines I can recall. I’m aware that I wanted the wine to be good, my expectations were sky-high, ten years of hope will do that – but this wine met them and then surpassed them. Conscious bias or not, it was a great wine.

My thanks to Olivier and all the team at La Part Des Anges, and to the Kagamis, for allowing me to complete a quest a decade in the making.

*Mizuiro means clear blue