Tasted in Châtillon d’Azergues with Fabien Chasselay, 18 February 2022.
Claire et Fabien Chasselay
123/127 Chemin de la Roche
69380 Châtillon d’Azergues
Tel: +33 4 78 47 93 73
www.domaine-chasselay.com
More reports with Domaine Claire & Fabien Chasselay
Fabien on 2020:
“These 2020s are all now in bottle. It’s a smaller quantity vintage and we suffered a little frost here too – which was actually the reverse of 2021 when we had frost in the crus but not here. The summer of twenty brought lots of maturity to the grapes – plenty of sugar!”
The wines…
Lot’s of good wines – maybe a leaf day to taste as the wines didn’t really ‘pop’ as they usually do at this address.
2020 Beaujolais – Is not dead!
All foudre elevage
That’s a big and forward nose – really round and inviting. A hint of gas but a wine that melts over the palate and finishes juicily. The finish is super – that’s a good one.
2020 Beaujolais Villages, Ephemère
This the wine with jar elevage. Vines in Lancié that are practically on the border with Fleurie next to Deduits on the granite.
A nice big freshness of aroma again. That’s really a lovely and layered delivery of flavour – a delicious impression – and holding a much more powerful finish – aspects of Fleurie in the flavour too – that’s really very good!
2020 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Pinot – Maceration carbonic here
Vibrant red fruit. Extra freshness and clarity to this fruit. Extra mouth-filling. A small grain of tannin in what is otherwise a silky wine. The finish again with lots of strength. Good again.
2020 Moulin à Vent Le Bief
Plain south next to La Rochelle – a steep place here – ît keeps us busy in organic!’
Extra clarity here – that’s a really good one. Silky, concentrated, very fine fruit – holding a line of intensity as it heads toward the finish. Very good again.
2020 Beaujolais La Platière
On clay and limestone.
That’s a beautiful nose of depth and purity – lovely. The oak is quite forward but this is still a wine with a luxurious texture and delicious style. Oaky – but delicious…
2020 Morgon Corcelette
Nearly 450m but south-facing. Near the Col du Truges, the only grapes bought by the domaine but the vigneron works organically.
Finer, more direct and darker fruit – this is another beauty but no oak this time – air releases a small pyrazine note. Fresh – open and beautiful on the palate – properly Morgon despite an attractive small accent of pyrazine – this is very good.
2020 Fleurie III
There are three terroirs here, 4 parcels
This is airy and even a little smoky – appealing depth too. Mouth-filling, beautifully textured. Lots of wine here – concentrated but with suave texture. Always this slightly smoky aroma and flavour but very appealing wine all the same…
2020 Côte de Brouilly Chardignon
Blue-stone, on the north side of the hill, but sometimes with more degrees of ripeness than the south – the vines here never suffer and seem to ripen forever here as there are some sources of water despite the height! Elevage like the last – except the demi-muids replaced by barrels – and for longer time.
Deeper colour. Higher tones, darker chocolatey fruit – some higher maturity here for sure. This is very finely textured, with lovely freshness – the fruit a little roast in style – in the end, no surprise – 16.1° – and this was the first vineyard to be harvested! It was 15.92° in 2015 too…
And blanc or two:
2020 Beaujolais Blanc Eparcieux
Two parcels one high one low, but it was the lower that was lost to frost. Wax topped bottle.
Smells like sone skin contact but no it’s not. Mouth-filling, mobile, a particular, opulent style but delicious and with no rigour. Yum!
2019! Beaujolais Ephemère
2 years of elevage – here is with maceration – no added sulfur, even for bottling which was done end of august
Grapes for the eparcieux blanc. Darker colour. That’s a really appealing nose – deep too – already creamy a little lanolin in style. Vibrant, a little mineral, creamy from the oak – but always with energy – there’s not a lot of acidity but the energy remains really good.