Winemaker Notes
The lieu-dit, Charbonnières, sits at 460 meters (1,500 feet) in altitude and faces directly east. The parcel is planted to high density, free-standing, gobelet vines. The Charbonnières climat is nestled in the forest and the aspect is formed as an amphitheater high up in the mountains of Beaujolais. The bordering forest forms a natural clos around the parcel. It’s an east facing parcel with part of the vineyard facing north and the other side facing south. The land has been farmed organically for nearly 20 years and is by far the most labor intensive of all their parcels. The vine age varies and the oldest vines are over 60 years old while the youngest were replanted 30 years ago. Granite rock forms the bedrock and the soil is a mix of granitic sand, various weathered rock fragments, and igneous rock. Semi-carbonic maceration about 21 days, indigenous yeast, no SO2 added and aged in cuve for about nine months.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Fleurie Charbonnières plot is particularly interesting as it sits at 460 meters in altitude and is enclosed by a forest. The vineyard is harvested in sections according to the expositions (north, east and south), and the wines are blended after aging. On the nose, the 2022 Fleurie Charbonnières is bold with floral and spice aromas, notes of blackberries, wild cherries, lilacs, lavender, dried herbs and baking spices. With tangy acidity and talc-like tannins, it has a strong delineation on the palate, readily supporting the fruit-driven, layered core.
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.