Houas Boukella

Houas Boukella waxing poetic during a late winter afternoon in the Anjou, January 2025

On a recent visit to Patrick Desplats just a few weeks ago in late September, Pat’s mood was as brilliant as the sun. The afternoon light was softly dramatic like an angelic glow, and we went to the Caroline vineyard to eat bunches and bunches of raisins surmuris yet to be picked, popped many a bottle of his amphorae wines dating 2020-2024 (including a brilliantly large maceration that turned out to be Epona 24), and had a beautiful lunch cooked by Pat himself. Pat’s touch in the kitchen reminds me of a criss-cross of Californian health food trends before the corruption of the post-Erewhon world that we now live in; ancient grain salads mixed with freshly foraged mushrooms, leafy greens, the occasional steak, and Georgian salt mixes sprinkled on everything. As we were walking through one of his other vineyards, he expressed an absolute wonder and disbelief about the sheer amount of people who continue to make the pilgrimage to see him; folks from different walks of life, not necessarily wine experts, but humans that have been touched by either his bottles, his story, his way of life, or all three. The Algerian Houas Boukella is one of those people. Pat’s wines and ethos were so strong for him that he ended up working as Pat’s assistant shortly after their meeting.

2023 is Boukella’s second official vintage away from his former master, and to be frank, the results are already immense. Like Desplats, Boukella is inspired by the Georgian method of buried amphorae, and the majority of his wines end up buried underground in his garden. Amphora doesn’t tend to be my first choice of elévage vessel, but there must be something in the water, or the ground, or the groundwater in this small corner of the Anjou; the results speak for themselves. While Houas’ 22s showed a strong understanding of grape growing and vinification in clay, 2023, a brilliantly light vintage in the Anjou shows Boukella’s potential as something beyond. There is a freedom and fluidity in these wines that make it hard to believe they are as young as they are. The sensation of Fleurette, which pours blush rouge this year (some call it a blouge), has stuck in my sense memory since I drank it out of magnum amidst a barrage of other mags Houas kept pulling out of his truck at a visit earlier this year. These are strikingly brilliant bottles from a new talent whose energetic obsession doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.



A small amount of magnums are available by request only

Fleurette 2023
White and grey blend
$50



Iflissen 2023
White and grey blend
$50



Anima 2023
Cabernet Franc
$50



Iskar 2023
Chardonnay in direct press
$50