Winemaker Notes
In January of 2018, David and Michele began working 2 hectares of vines in the Beaujolais Cru of Chiroubles. The wine is an assemblage of two high altitude (average 400 meters), steeply-sloped parcels: Saint-Roch & Poullet. Each parcel is about 1 hectare in size, each east-facing and planted to high density, gobelet trained vines. The land is worked organically and by hand. The average vine age of Saint-Roch is 55 years, and Poullet varies between 40 & 60 years old. The bedrock is granite and the soil is a blend of pink granite, sandstone and weathered rock fragments.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Chiroubles cuvée reflects the team's unwavering dedication to the steep, sandy soils of the region. The 2022 Chiroubles unfolds with lush aromas of bramble fruits, tangy raspberries, cherries, hibiscus, Indian spices and dried herbs. While more introspective on the palate than on the nose, it possesses a stealthy demeanor, displaying concentration and agility with an energetic presence. Medium-bodied, it is buoyed by ripe acidity and fine-grained tannins that gently tease the cheeks, tied together with notes of spice and cracked peppercorns that lend additional piquancy.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The bucolic region often identified as the southern part of Burgundy, Beaujolais actually doesn’t have a whole lot in common with the rest of the region in terms of climate, soil types and grape varieties. Beaujolais achieves its own identity with variations on style of one grape, Gamay.
Gamay was actually grown throughout all of Burgundy until 1395 when the Duke of Burgundy banished it south, making room for Pinot Noir to inhabit all of the “superior” hillsides of Burgundy proper. This was good news for Gamay as it produces a much better wine in the granitic soils of Beaujolais, compared with the limestone escarpments of the Côte d’Or.
Four styles of Beaujolais wines exist. The simplest, and one that has regrettably given the region a subpar reputation, is Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the Beaujolais wine that is made using carbonic maceration (a quick fermentation that results in sweet aromas) and is released on the third Thursday of November in the same year as harvest. It's meant to drink young and is flirty, fruity and fun. The rest of Beaujolais is where the serious wines are found. Aside from the wines simply labelled, Beaujolais, there are the Beaujolais-Villages wines, which must come from the hilly northern part of the region, and offer reasonable values with some gems among them. The superior sections are the cru vineyards coming from ten distinct communes: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Any cru Beajolais will have its commune name prominent on the label.