PR invite // All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.
Maison Lineti is a fascinating and innovative French single malt distillery in Bordeaux which incorporates adjusted wine making techniques into their production.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this trip to Bordeaux to visit the whisky distillery Maison Lineti, but I was immediately curious when I got the invitation – and of course thrilled to have the opportunity to visit and learn more about a European distillery outside the UK. I had only heard and seen the distillery mentioned in a couple of articles and the main thing that caught my intention was the concrete eggs that they use for fermentation and their focus on taking wine techniques and practices and apply them to the whisky making. So let me tell you all about my trip and why I’m now even more fascinated and captivated by Maison Lineti as well as 5 new things that I learned on this trip:
- The name of a different type of warehousing that is not dunnage, racked or palletised.
- Why a ceramic egg can work really well for whisky fermentation
- How malolactic fermentation works
- Why Maison Lineti has its name
- That I absolutely love Bordeaux and need to come back and see more
Distillery Tour at Maison Lineti with founder Magali Picard
Upon arriving at the distillery, which is located in a slightly more industrial estate area outside of Bordeaux, we were met by Dr Magali Picard who is one of the founders of Maison Lineti – and also the scientific brain behind the whisky making. Magali is a specialist in wine chemistry and has a PhD where she focused on sensory evolution for fine Bordeaux wines during bottle maturation. She has also worked in a cooperage so has valuable knowledge about cask management and rejuvenation. I have never met anyone who has the same approach to whisky as Magali. She speaks with so much passion, knowledge and genuine curiosity about what she’s hoping to achieve and find answers to in whisky. She runs the distillery together with her husband, Alex, who has the entrepreneurial spirit of the two and also a wine + spirits business background which of course makes them a really good team.
The tour commenced with an introduction of the ethos of Maison Lineti where it’s immediately clear that this is a really thought-through distillery which looks at each part of production with scientific eyes to see what is the optimal processes for what they’re trying to achieve. The project was born in 2018 and distillation started in 2022 but we won’t see a whisky product until September 2026. Florality is an important character for their whisky making and each production step seems designed to enhance floral notes, in particular those of white flowers and rose. I haven’t previously came across a distillery that focuses so much on a floral character in whisky, it tends to be fruits like either green fruits or tropical fruits or of course smoke if peat is involved.
The French malt is organic and sourced from maltsters which is used to produce two clear worts each day which goes into one of the concrete eggs, which is very unique to Maison Lineti’s production. These are not uncommon in wine, and for example nearby winery Chateau Cheval Blanc also incorporates concrete eggs. Magali explains that the eggs are ideal for fermentation as the shape is advantageous for thermal retention, it encourages a convection movement so the yeast is in constant movement resulting in an increased complexity of the wash, and eventually the new make. It is commercial distillers yeast that is currently used here, but there could be experiments with other yeast types in the future. A long fermentation of 7 days is implemented and the wash is kept at a constant 28 degrees celsius, but Maison Lineti also does malolactic fermentation for some batches and for some also resting on the lees. With the malolactic fermentation lactic bacteria is added at the start of the fermentation process (in comparison to wine making where it tends to be at the end of the process) which adds mellowness and acidity as the lactic bacteria continues to work even after the yeast has died off. With the resting on the lees the wash rests for another 14 days at a lower temperature totalling three weeks spent in the concrete eggs. Once fermentation is complete it’s time for distillation. The distillery has two Charentes style stills that have been hammered by hand to achieve their shape. The spirit is condensed in worm tubs and they do both slow and fast distillation of the tails depending on if it’s going into the next low vine distillation or the next wash distillation.
After the distillation process, Magali took us through to the warehouse where I got to see a different type to warehousing than I’ve ever seen before. It’s called Oxoline warehousing and allows access to each individual cask at any time whilst also allowing Maison Lineti to stack six high. They are estimating to have filled up the second warehouse which is currently being built by mid 2026 so already have plans to expand further and are currently crowdfunding to support the future plans.
We also did a tasting of some different cask samples, such as spirit from new French oak, new American oak and an Oloroso cask. It is really interesting spirit which has an elegant youthfulness to it alongside a white flower florality and in spite of it’s young age (these samples were 18 months), they don’t have the typical new make characteristics, but feel more rounded and in a blind test I would most likely guess that they were older than their actual age.
The Chapter of whisky from Maison Lineti
Once the single malt is starting to be released it will be split into five different chapters for each vintage that will be released after 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 years.
It will be so interesting to see their first whisky when it comes out in September of 2026!
Bonus: The Maison Lineti Master Notes
Something I really like about Maison Lineti is that they are not gatekeeping their knowledge and the things they find out along the way. Sure they will keep some secrets to themselves – and in particular until they have the material and evidence to back up their studies, but they have already published several so called master notes focusing on different themes of production and will continue to release their future findings as well. If you are interested in whisky or whisky production I’d highly recommend checking these out – you’ll find them here – and I just can’t believe that they’ve gone through the work of producing these master notes and then also making them available to anyone for free. And yes – they are available in both French and English.
Dinner at La Terrasse Rogue at Chateau La Dominique
After a lot of new knowledge had been absorbed it was lovely to head to La Terasse Rouge at Chateau La Dominique for dinner. I enjoyed a burrata and tomato dish to start, pork for mains and a chocolate dessert. It was an excellent dinner and the wine was of course quite the highlight as Alex and Magali decided on the bottles. The restaurant has a beautiful view so I’d recommend going for lunch or for early evening to not miss the stunning sunset which coats the vines in oranges, purples and yellows.
As you’ll see in one of the photos, the cat of the house made sure to hide amongst the chairs, ready to pick up any stray food that made it on to the floor.
Maison Lineti Masterclass
We spent the night at Hôtel Au Logis des Remparts in St Émilion, which was a cute little french hotel with quite simple rooms but comfortable beds. The room was quite warm but the AC did help a little. I slept quite well and enjoyed a quick little walk in the morning and found that there were plenty of cute little streets and shops all around us, and the vineyards feel like they’re never far away around here. The hotel also has a pool and if I had more time I would’ve definitely gone for a swim. I feel like it’s always difficult to prepare for how breakfasts will be at hotels, but this one was really lovely, even though it was quite simple. There were sausages and scrambled eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, bread and spreads/toppings. The baguettes were the highlight for me as they felt so fresh and delicious and I enjoyed it with some dry-cured ham and creamy cheese.
Following our breakfast we headed back to the distillery for a masterclass with Magali where she took us through a variety of samples.
First up we had three samples to compare: first a classic spirit, made with their so called classic fermentation and matured for 18 months in ex-bourbon, second a spirit made with all the parameters as the first one – from aging to distillation time but the difference is in the fermentation as it’s a malolactic fermentation (where lactic bacteria is added at the start of the fermentation in the concrete eggs), third we have a spirit also made in the same way but this time the fermentation has had an additional 7 days on the lees. It’s quite fascinating to see the difference in these samples. The malolactic sample has similar qualities as the classic but really seem more rounded and elegant in its character. It’s also so lovely to be able to do a comparative tasting like this, where there is only one parameter that differs, rather than several, so that you can focus on the specific flavours that it brings.
We also tried samples where the casks have different toast levels and then also samples that consisted of different blend combinations of the fermentations samples. I think you can really see how the whisky comes together when you taste how interesting and nice the blends of the different spirit types are. Of course, in spite of mentioning that these are blends, they will still be single malt, since it is different single malt spirits from the same distillery that are blended together.
And if you are wondering where the name comes from – Maison Lineti is an anagram of Saint Émilion, the location where the distillery is located which is well known for its excellent wine making. Clever, right?
Lunch at Le Garden at Château Petit Faurie de Soutard
Time flew by so quickly and suddenly it was time to make our way back home, but before heading to the airport we stopped by Château Petit Faurie de Soutard for lunch at Le Garden, a beautiful restaurant surrounded by a chic garden. Once again Magali and Alex picked lovely wines – a Grenache Blanc and a merlot from Domaine des Tours – which suited the elegant food really well. I enjoyed a lobster starter, veil and creamy potato puree for mains and could not resist picking a selection of cheeses from the incredibly well-stocked cheese trolley for dessert. I saw that I selected, but in reality I asked for recommendations that were creamy, preferably some with goats cheese and not too smelly and got a lovely selection to enjoy. Would definitely recommend a visit to this lovely spot – and don’t miss out on the cheese!
A big thank you to the Maison Lineti team for having me. It was so interesting to learn more about the distillery and the whisky and I will be so curious to follow your journey forward!
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