Tasted with Anne-Sophie Dubois on this windy day in Fleurie, 06 February 2020.

Domaine Anne-Sophie Dubois
Les Labourons
69820 Fleurie
Tel: +33 4 74 69 84 45
anne-sophiedubois.blogspot

More reports for Domaine Anne-Sophie Dubois

Anne-Sophie on 2019:
“Another dry year – that’s the third in a row. The soils are granitic and poor here so there was always a little stress – I was in conversion towards organic in 2018 and it’s quite a balance on the hills here – to have enough ground-cover to avoid erosion but at the same time not take too much away from the vines. Fortunately, we had no problems here with the frost – we were too high! Yields were average – 33-35 hl/ha – that’s okay – less than 30 isn’t okay! Probably we were saved by the rain we had in the first half of August.”

Anne-Sophie on 2018:
“45 hl/ha – generous for here – that’s rare when it’s combined with good quality too. The reserve of water was fine during the dry summer – practically perfect as all was so clean in the vines – I can take that every year. 2017 here is more strict than these 2018s. I was 13° maximum and didn’t have problems with fermentations – I still had to follow them closely – but not so in 2019.”

The domaine is now starting their third and final year of certification for organic viticulture.

The wines…

Always a treat to taste these wines – Anne-Sophie has delivered with here 2018s – her Les Labourons is clearly a great wine.

Bottled in April and October. Now up to 25-30,000 bottles as have a little more surface of vines – extracted from the coop:

2018 Fleurie Cuvée Cocottes
6 months of elevage. First made in 2015 – for an easier entry wine – a more fruity wine.
Quite a modest depth of colour. A pretty width of freshness – of open red fruit. Bright, freshness – a wave of fresh red-fruited flavour over the palate – in the middle a little more depth to the silky texture. A touch of herb in the complexity – it makes the wine all the more attractive and moreish. Yum – more than glou-glou but anyway delicious.

2018 Fleurie l’Alchimiste
Normally longer elevage – 10 months in barrel then assembled for 2-3 months before the bottling. With a new label, blue with the surrounding hillsides of Les Labourons.
More colour. More depth and intent to this nose too – hinting at silk but with density too – the rounded fruit of Fleurie accented with a low sulfur approach it seems. Hmm – yes – attack, a softness of modest sulfur but wide, slightly open structure – but good structure. Wide, mineral, graphite juicy finishing, almost serious with a last texture of tannin – this is excellent!