Tasted with Fanny Courtial in Liergues, 01 March 2024.
Château de l’Eclair
905 rue du Château de l’Eclair – Liergues
69400 Porte des Pierres Dorées
Tel: +33 4 74 02 22 40
www.chateaudeleclair.com
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More reports with Château de l’Eclair
Fanny on 2023:
“23 has lovely aromatic concentration – we just assembled the Beaujolais cuvée last week – it’s looking good. We lost some volume in the whites due to coulure but the reds have a good 40 hl/ha, it’s closer to 35 for the whites.”
Fanny on 2022:
“The weather for much of 2022 was hot – we had the big heat more at the end of August in 23. So we had some hydric stress in 22 but it was a cleaner vintage – the wines have more concentration and structure in 22 – the wines in 23 will be more supple.”
There are two new wines since the 2021 vintage; a Beaujolais Blanc, ‘more for the gastronomy sector and that can age.‘ Also a Beajolais with no added sulfur.
The wines…
A more than good range of 2022s plus a surprisingly great white !!
2022 Beaujolais Racine Gamay
‘A single parcel – and it was always one of our best parcels – made whole-cluster.’ The operations in production under a blanket of N2 to avoid interactions with oxygen
Plenty of colour. Hmm – that’s got an apparently silky nose and darker fruit. Broad, sweetly flavoured – this had a good shape and a fine velvet texture. The finishing flavour bursts forward – wide still in this persistent finish. That’s really an impressive length !!
2022 Beaujolais La Reserve
An original parcel that was the ‘reserve’ of Valmorel for his experimentation – though replanted in the last 20 years. Today it’s from 3 parcels, half with tank elevage – about 15 days of maceration with manly destemmed grapes…
A more active freshness of aroma – here’s a very pretty complexity of gamay – floral accents and an inviting freshness. In the mouth this is a juicy, delicious wine – today framed by a fine grain of tannin but hardly anything dry. The finish impresses again – more intense and with a hint of graphite – extra-long once more.
Not yet commercalised:
2022 Beaujolais Villages Courtieux
In Rivolet at 450m altitude. Labelled AB from the 23 vintage. Bluestone and granite here – hand harvested, part destemmed. All tank elevage.
Lots of colour. A more vertical nose higher tones, extra deep though a bit less width – the fruit darkly shaded. Supple, beautifully textured wine – this is really delicious – supported by an ultra-fine, ripe tannin. A little less energy than the Reserve. The finish of less power but of lovely fading length.
Les Whites:
A small amount of barrel elevage the rest in tank – with some battonage.
A compact nose with a small toast, faintly accented with florals – inviting! Hmm, that’s got a beautiful shape and energy – a small generosity but nothing that would make me think that it doesn’t come from the Côte d’Or. I find this a great BJB – I don’t say that often!
2022 Beaujolais Blanc
From the same parcel as the last but all barrel elevage – 2-8 years of age. Not yet commercialised but bottled.
Almost a smoky pear style to the fruit here – nice. Broader, more generous, fine mouth-watering flavour. Quite some balanced richness here yet not overtly flavoured with the barrel. I find it very good – no rigour – but my glass would be filled with the previous wine.