I’ve been enjoying these wines for a while, tasting them in whatever country I could find them, and now they are in the United States. In Spanish they call vines that have scurried up wild in the trees su viñedo silvestre. By 2009 when Villalobos decided to vinify them commercially they had been savage for over a half a century. The vines turned out to be carignan, pale and lovely in color, low in alcohol and plenty of character.

From the middle of nowhere, about 50km south of Grenoble in the Isère department of France, comes a most unusual single malt from agronomist Frédéric Revol, who decided to distill his crop. This is serious local stuff. From his 2010, 2011 and 2012 vintage of autumn barley, at 41.7% ABV with no caramel or other colorings or additives. It almost looks like a white spirit, but unmistakably whiskey and delicate, heather-like. Never really had anything quite like it. For those who can manage a whisper whisky, something in between Irish and heathery Highland, you’ll find it lingering and warming.