Showing posts with label Beaujolais. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beaujolais. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Miss Vicky Wine from Château des Moriers, Fleurie, Beaujolais

After a hiatus, we are continuing our Hopwine series from samples received over the summer and highlighting excellent Gamay wines made at Château des Moriers in Fleurie, Beaujolais and branded as Miss Vicky Wine.

Beaujolais is located in eastern France, immediately south of Burgundy, and is best known for its Gamay wines through Beaujolais Villages, Beaujolais Nouveau, and the ten Beaujolais crus - subregions recognized as the finest in Beaujolais. One of these outstanding areas is Fleurie often referred to as "The Queen of Beaujolais".  

"Fleurie is in the center of the ten Beaujolais crus. It lies just south of Moulin-à-Vent and Chénas and to the north of Morgon. Chiroubles lies just to the west. Vineyards face south and southeast overlooking the Saone River valley and are shielded from cold northwesterly weather systems by the hills to the west of the Beaujolais region. The region receives abundant sunshine hours as the grapes are slowly cooled by gentle influences from the Mediterranean Sea in the south. This ensures that ripening is slow and steady, leading to a balance of acidity and flavor in the grapes.  

Fleurie vineyards are generally planted on pink granite soil. But variations in textures and additional soil components give rise to different styles of wine. On the higher slopes within the appellation, the soils are made up of coarse, dry sand. This absorbs and reflects heat, aiding the ripening process. Wines produced from these vineyards are known for their delicate aromas. Vineyards lower down the slopes tend to have a higher proportion of water-retaining clay. This gives wines from these sites a slightly denser, more-structured style of wine." (1) 

Vines were first planted in Fleurie by Benedictine monks during the early Middle Ages. More recently, in 2005, Gilles Monrozier took over the nine-hectare family vineyard  -- a plot of sand and pink granite first planted with grapes by his ancestors 200 years ago and located in far northern Fleurie bordering Moulin-à-Vent.  More recently Gilles' daughter Anne-Victoire, a wine blogger, developed the Miss Vicky Wine brand in order to first highlight her family's wines and eventually other French winemakers and regions. 
 
Fleurie o Joie 2018
The wine is 100% Gamay from grown in different lots in the vineyard in front of the château.  Floral and fruit-forward.

Fleurie Fleurs des Champs 2018
The wine is 100% Gamay from grown in different lots in the vineyard in front of the château. It contains bright floral notes with earthy cherries with a dose of minerality.  One easy-drinking, delicious wine. 

Fleurie La Brirette 2015
The grapes derive from a one-hectare lot called La Brirette which is within the  Les Moriers sub-region. These wines are known for their bigger structure, depth, and spiciness and the La Brirette 2015 does not disappoint. It is dense with a plethora of spices which somehow lead to an elegant wine. 

Moulin-à-Vent Vielles Vignes 2014
This is a blend of two vineyard sites just over the border into Moulin-à-Vent. One sits on granitic soils, the other on sandy clay. The juice is fermented and aged in 400L barrels for about one year leading to complexity and a velvety texture. This wine melts in the mouth. Exceptional.


(1) Wine-searcher.com

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Navigating the Crus at the Beaujolais Road Show

Discover Beaujolais


"In 1395 Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, ordered that all Gamay vines be uprooted by the following Easter. The Duke believed the cultivation methods used in raising Gamay were damaging the reputation of Pinot Noir. Although the decision sparked such uproar among the public, the Duke’s attempts at eradicating Gamay were thorough, enforcement of his ordinance did not reach Beaujolais in the very south of Burgundy, where pockets of the grape continued to grow.", Discover Beaujolais



Discover Beaujolais
And Gamay held on in these pockets quietly, until 1937 when Beaujolais became a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). At last, Gamay was finally recognized as that region's protected grape. Gamay is a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc and it was originally brought to the area from Croatia by the Huns in the 4th century. Beaujolais is located north of Lyon in eastern France and actually overlaps Burgundy in the north and Rhône in the south. The vineyards sit on mostly granite terrain that overlooks the Saône River. The soils provide minerality and structure whereas the abundant sunshine and warming influences from the river provide complete fruit maturation.

Discover Beaujolais
The region consists of a dozen appellations which include 10 Crus - the "jewels" of Beaujolais where Gamay is the heart and soul. According to Discover Beaujolais, expect fine and flavored profiles from Brouilly, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Régnié, and Saint-Amour and intense and generous profiles from Chénas, Côte de Brouilly, Juliénas, Morgon, and Moulin-à-Vent. The two other appellations are Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages and both permit red, white and rosé wines. The Beaujolais appellation is the widest covering about 24 square miles in the south and east. Vines in this appellation grow in limestone-clay and granitic soils around 72 villages and provide 65% of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Villages accounts for the remaining 35%, is the second widest region, and is divided into three zones. "The southern zone is near the Haute-Azergues hills and has soil that produces very fruity wine. Wines with greater structure are made in the central zone, and the northern area is known for its full-bodied wine."

Beaujonomie is the assertion that good wine should be enjoyed over a shared table with lively conversation and delicious food. And Discover Beaujolais is using 2019 to introduce this concept to American consumers through various Beaujolais Road Shows, one which just presented in New York City and Washington. Seventeen Beaujolais wineries conversed with attendees describing their operation, vineyard, the crus, appellation, and anything else relevant to the winery.

Being a warm afternoon, Beaujolais blanc (Chardonnay ) was an appropriate starting point.  At Domaine Louis Tête, current winemaker Jean Tête and his daughter Justine have a pedigree dating from the early 1800s when their family first planted vines in “Les Dépôts” (a few kilometers from Beaujeu the historical capital of Beaujolais). Thus Louis Tête is the oldest brand in Beaujolais and their 2018 Beaujolais Blanc is tart with a green apple profile and refreshing acids. In contrast, the Domaine Piron 2018 Beaujolais Blanc is more saline driven with a more citrus and pineapple profile. Granite soils seem to be in play here. This winery has an even longer winemaking pedigree as the co-owner Dominique Piron’s oldest known ancestor, a future winemaker,  was born in Morgon en 1590. Co-owner Julian Revillon is very proud of this wine as well as his cru wines and provided an introduction to Morgon (the second largest cru) and Chénas (the smallest). The decaying volcanic soils in Morgon help create elegant wines with racy acidity and solid tannic structure as evident by the Domaine Piron Morgon Cote du Py 2017. And in Chénas, granitic soils are covered with Quartz crystals providing similar minerality in the Domaine Piron Chénas Quartz 2016 that combine with floral and stone fruit notes and rounded tannins. Excellent.

Cécile Dardanelli presented several Domaine Bel Avenir wines from various Beaujolais crus including the Morgon Les Charmes 2017 and the Chénas Grand Guinchay 2107. The Morgon was very fruit forward providing fresh acids and the Chénas was juicy and solid tannic structure both in contrast to the Domaine Piron. The highlight from this 4th generation producer was their Fleurie Poncié 2017 that was silky with easy tannins. The soils in Fleurie are predominately pink granite and the vines benefit from exposure to warm morning sunshine during the growing season.

Moulin-à-Vent lies just north of Fleurie and Domaine de la Fond Moiroux showcased the cru through a vertical from 2016 back to 2009. The 45-year-old vines are planted on similar pink granite soils but differ with Fleurie due to large manganese deposits. These wines were intense with dense fruit and varying degrees of acidity that allowed the wine to remain fresh through most of the eight years.

P. Ferraud & Fils poured the best Moulin-à-Vent of the tasting in their Moulin-à-Vent La Dynastie Des Ferraud, 2015 -- very dense and intense fruit -- but the Saint-Amour, Cuvée Ensorceleuse 2017 from this 5th generation winemakers was also delicious. It had more fruit character - berries and even some stone fruit - but a nice structural backbone laced with minerals. The terrain in this most northern cru is hilly with clay and loam soils augmented with granite and limestone.

Juliénas lies adjacent to Saint-Amour but provides heavier wines than its neighbor. "The terroir of Julienas is often considered to be the most variable in the Beaujolais region. The soils are transitional, ranging from granite further up the hills in the west to more sedimentary and alluvial in the east nearer the river". Chateau de Julienas dates from the 14th century when it was a winemaking estate owned by the Lords of Beaujeu. In 1907 Claude Condemine bought and restored the Chateau and improved the vineyard and today it is managed by his grandson Thierry. Their Chateau de Juliénas- Juliénas Tradition 2016 is a well-balanced wine starting with tart red cherries transitioning to a rustic pepper character and finishing with fresh acidity.

Régnié is the youngest cru, gaining that status in 1988 after being part of the larger Beaujolais Villages appellation. It is known for lighter wines, fragrant and structured, with refined tannins. The cru shares the common pink granite soils but at some of the highest terrain within Beaujolais. Chateau de Durette is also relatively new, with Marc Theissen crafting the first wines a decade ago. The vines for their Régnié Les Bruryeres 2018 are 60-70 year-old vines planted next to the winery and Theissen utilizes a new regulation allowing for the labeling of single vineyards. Thus the home vineyard of "Les Bruyères" is proudly displayed.

Like Régnié, the Chiroubles cru is a cooler climate because of its higher altitudes and provides lighter and fresher styles of Gamay. The granite soils come into play in Chiroubles reflecting heat that warms the grapes in cooler conditions.  Fabien Collonge is a young winemaker (23 years old) but in terms of the Domaine Fabien Collonge Chiroubles L'Aurore des Cotes 2017, crafts wines worthy of more established producers. This wine is noted for its savory fruit and a rounded mouth-feel finishing with refreshing acidity.

Brouilly is the southernmost cru and is known for their robust and full-bodied wines characterized by the Domaine Ruet Brouilly Vielles Vignes 2016. There is a range of mesoclimates and soils composition in the vineyards of Brouilly so there is plenty of differences of wine profiles within the cru. Domaine Ruet is now on its 4th generation winemaker and this one comes from 60-100-year-old vines planted in pink granite soils of Voujon, Les Grands Bruyères. This is an elegant wine, candied cherries and raspberries, with traces of minerality and chewy tannins.

Côte de Brouilly is surrounded completely by the much larger Brouilly appellation and is known more concentrated wines with less earthiness than those from its neighbor. The soils contain diorite, a blue stone that results from ancient volcanic activity. These thin, stony, and occasional clay soils are well drained and lack water and nutrients which result in small but highly concentrated berries. Wines like the Cave du Chateau Des Loges, Côte de Brouilly Prestige 2017 provide dense fruit, tannic structure, and in this specific case, once again stone fruit.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wine Chateau Uncorks Life with the 2011 Château des Jacques Moulin-à Vent

Our friends at the Wine Chateau sent us another care package this Fall and I immediately saw fit to open the 2011 Château des Jacques Moulin-à Vent ($23). The wine is part of the Louis Jardot portfolio and is made from Gamay grown in the prestigious Moulin-à-Vent appellation in Beaujolais. Nothing wrong with the seasonal Beaujolais Nouveau, but this is a more Burgundian wine - having spent ten months in oak (30% in new oak) - and is age-able for those with patience. Not here. This is a juicy wine, full of black cherry, plenty of texture, with a slight mocha chocolate finish.  Well done, indeed. Check back soon when we open the Ruffino Classico Riserva and Castello Banfi Belnero. Cheers.





Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Masculine Side of Beaujolais - a Focus on More Robust Crus

On the heels of participating in the first Beaujolais Taste Live event: Discover Beaujolais - The Feminine Side of Beaujolais; we were invited to participate in the second round: The Masculine Side of Beaujolais - a Focus on More Robust Crus. Once again the event wass sponsored by Inter Beaujolais, the official wine-trade organization of the region. And once again, we received four wines - this time representing high quality cru wines from different vintages that are available in the United States. These were:
  • Christophe Pacalet, Cote de Brouilly, 2006;
  • Pascal Granger, Juliénas, 2005
  • Loluis-Claude Desvignes, Morgon, 2007
  • Domaine Diochon, Moulin à Vent, 2008
And like the first event, I care least for the first wine - although not nearly as bad as before. The Christophe Pacalet, Cote de Brouilly, 2006 retails for $17 and is basically an easy sipping fruity wine. Yea, there's plenty of fruit, but that was it. No acidity, no tannins, no structure, no finesse, just fruit. rose substantially moving to the Pascal Granger, Juliénas, 2005, the most expensive wine of the night at $24. This wine exhibited true Old World characteristics with some mineral content from the nose to the tail. Plus some cherry flavor and texture on the palette. This was an excellent wine. The Loluis-Claude Desvignes, Morgon, 2007 ($20) followed with more fruit but balanced with subtle amounts of acidity, earthiness, and some spiciness - all the character lacking in the Christophe Pacalet, Cote de Brouilly. The tasting sheet was right on with the white pepper notes. Another excellent wine. Yet, the masterpeice of the evening was the final wine, the Domaine Diochon, Moulin à Vent, 2008 ($21). This wine seemed to include the best characteristics of the previous two - dark fruit flavors and earthy minerals. This wine exudes strong aromatics, contains structure, acidity, tannins - all the usual wine buzz words. This is one wine we will keep in our cellar.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Taste Live: Discover Beaujolais

This past Wednesday we were invited to participate in a twitter Taste Live event "Discover Beaujolais". The event is sponsored by Inter Beaujolais, the official wine-trade organization of the region, working to promote Beaujolais wines and raise awareness of the region. Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) and the wine is mostly Gamay grape, a low tannic, thin skinned grape. According to Wikipedia the region of was first cultivated by the Romans who planted the areas along its trading route up the Saône valley. "The most notable Roman vineyard was Brulliacus located on the hillside of Mont Brouilly. The Romans also planted vineyards in the area Morgon. From the 7th century through the Middle Ages, most of the viticulture and winemaking was done by the Benedictine monks. In the 10th century, the region got its name from the town of Beaujeu, Rhône and was ruled by the Lords of Beaujeu till the 15th century when it was ceded to the Duchy of Burgundy. The wines from Beaujolais were mostly confined to the markets along the Saône and Rhône rivers, particularly in the town of Lyon. The expansion of the French railroad system in the 19th century opened up the lucrative Paris market. The first mention of Beaujolais wines in English followed soon after when Cyrus Redding described the wines of Moulin-à-Vent and Saint-Amour as being low priced and best consumed young".

During the Taste Live event, we tasted four wines selected to represent the region and which were widely available in this country. Specifically they were the Domaine Cheysson, Chiroubles; Henry Fessy, Brouilly; Charly Thevenet “Grain et Granit”, Règniè; and the Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie, 2009.

Domaine Cheysson, Chiroubles, 2009
This wine, like all the others, is 100% Gamay and is made from grapes planted in the highest cru in the appellation. Chiroubles is home to approximately 80 winemakers and because of its attitude, cooler temperatures allow for a later harvest. I'm not sure if elevation had an effect, but the wine had a repugnant black tea aroma - that was tough to get past. Once I did, I found a tart, raspberry flavored wine; not bad - but not a good start to the evening.


Henry Fessy, Brouilly, 2009
Brouilly is the southern most region of the appellation and is comprised of six villages and four terroirs. Wine from Brouilly is the most popular in the United States, one reason is that the cru represents 20% of the Beaujolais region. The Henry Fessy had a slightly similar Back Tea aroma, but more red fruit which didn't allow the tea to overwhelm the nose. The flavor is silky smooth; some texture, with black fruit and some chocolate. Plus a longer smoother finish. This texture is mostly due to the manganese soils, which yield more robust wines. Since the first two wines retail for a similar price ($15-$18), it was a no brainer for me which I would select.

Charly Thevenet “Grain et Granit”, Règniè, 2009
This wine was the most expensive, $35, of the group; partly from its pedigree - crafted by Charly Thevenot, the son of Jean-Paul Thevenot. The wine is also crafted using Biodynamic methods and aged 12 months in 4 year old Burgundy barrels. Could be why locals consider this a "pinotfied" wine - even though Gamay is a relative to Pinot Noir. "Pinotfied" or not, this is a fine wine; red fruit flavors, and very smooth - not a great value - but a good wine.

Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie, 2009
This region is named after a Roman legionary, not any flower; although the wines are more elegant than anything resembling a Roman soldier. The cru "backs up on to the a chain of peaks including Avenas, Durbize and Les Labourons". The Clos de la Roilette retails for $20 and after the tasting, this is a decent value. The wine is smokey, from the nose to the tail - but only subtly so. Fruit flavors eventually dominant but this is still the most earthy of the wines - dry and "minerally". Drinking the remainder right now, in fact, it remains nice even after three days opened on the shelf.

We felt very privileged participating in this event. We seemed to have ignored Beaujolais wines for awhile, but no longer. We've always liked Gamay, and the search will start to explore Beaujolais Gamay as well as more U.S. made Gamay. of the four, I think the Brouilly may have been my favorite with the Fleurie and Règniè close behind. Make sure to visit Inter Beaujolais to Discover Beaujolais.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Taste Live: Discover Beaujolais & Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail)

In the next few days we are participating in two tasting events at Taste Live. Tonight is Discover Beaujolais: The Feminine Side of Beaujolais - A Focus on Lighter Style Crus. We will be tasting four wines in you can follow alone on twitter using the handles: #beaujolais, #ttl. The wines are Domaine Cheysson, Chiroubles; Henry Fessy, Brouilly; Charly Thevenet “Grain et Granit”, Règniè; and the Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie, 2009. The event is sponsored by Inter Beaujolais, the official wine-trade organization of the region, working to promote Beaujolais wines and raise awareness of the region.

On Monday October 25, we are participating in the Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail) tasting. Information about this tasting is available here; but check these handles on twitter: #WW #ttl #vawine @keswickvineyard @benatmountfair @MfVvinotweets @th_jefferson @KlugeEstate @BlenheimWines @AftonMountain @vawine.