Touche Pas Au Gibi from the winery Domaine des Païssels, located in the small wine region Saint Chinian in Languedoc, southern France, is a fresh and elegant white wine made from the ancient and rare grape variety Gibi. The wine presents aromas of white flowers, yellow apple and herbs, and the pallet is light and round with flavours of citrus, stone fruit and hints of white pepper and crushed stones. It is the perfect wine to enjoy chilled on a hot summer day and it goes well with light dishes for instance seafood, green salads and fresh cheese. 
 
The name “Touche Pas Au Gibi” can be translated into “Do not touch the Gibi” and is not only a delicious white wine, but also a part of a passionate project about preserving ancient and rare grape varieties that are forgotten, endangered and close to extinction. Gibi is a very ancient variety that was found in the estate’s hundred years old vineyard of Carignan vines. It is a female variety that cannot self-pollinize, so the solution was to plant new Gibi vines in a young vineyard of Grenache Gris. The two varieties are fermented together in stainless steel tanks. 
 
Domaine des Païssels is the winery and love child of the couple Marie Toussaint and Vivien Roussignol, who are agricultural engineers and oenologists. After many years of working in wineries in several French regions as well as in California and Australia, they returned to Saint-Chinian to create their own winery. They started by cultivating an old vineyard of only one single hectare which they had inherited from Vivien's grandfather in 2011. Today they cultivate 12 hectares of vineyards of vines that are 30-100 years old of local grape varieties, including many rare varieties you have never heard of. They are passionate about preserving lost and forgotten grape varieties, for instance the green grape variety Gibi. Marie and Vivien take pride in farming organically with great care for their vines and respect of nature, and have chosen not to utilize any herbicides or chemical fertilizers. They have also installed beehives around the plots to protect biodiversity. The name “Les Païssels” is the local name for the small chestnut stakes which are traditionally used to support young vines while they are being cut and grown into the Goblet shape, also called bush vines, that are typically seen in old vineyards in southern France. Marie and Vivien chose this name for their first vintage, and after a few years it also became the name of the domain.