All wines tasted in the Côte d’Or between 13 and 14 March 2018.
Domaine Les Capreoles
La Plaigne
69430 Régnie-Durette
Tel: +33 4 74 65 57 83
www.capreoles.com
Cédric Lecareux together with his wife Catherine run a relatively new domaine in Régnié, since 2014. Organic since 2017.
2016 Beaujolais Lantignié l’Amourgandise
Natural yeasts, a ‘minimum’ of sulfur. Cement tanks. The first part of the harvest – which was hailed – was destemmed, the rest was whole-cluster. Other wines have some barrel elevage, but not this.
Pretty fresh red fruit aromatics. Wide, a little hern but a little tasty fruit too. Depth – this is a super BJV with super length
2016 Régnié Diaclase
Barrel elevage – but just 3 months in barrel
A touch of aromatic oak, but modestly so, with plenty of complexity. A bit too much vanilla on the palate today, but the texture is silky – the wine is both concentrated and juicy – despite the oak its delicious!
2016 Régnié Sous la Croix
The same elevage as last, except and even shorter elevage – bottled in June.
Fresher, pure fruited. Wide, fresh, less concentrated, equally mouth-watering. The oak is hardly showing here. This is also very tasty wine.
Domaine Marc Delienne
Château de l’Abbaye Saint Laurent d’Arpayé,
rue de l’Abbaye d’Arpayé,
69820 Fleurie
Tel: +33 6 08 61 08 63
www.domainemarcdelienne.fr
Marc Delienne bought a wine estate in Fleurie at the start of 2015. He had two pressing projects – to build a cuverie and to convert the domaine to organic viticulture – he also plans biodynamics. He chooses to use ‘only a little sulfur’ just before bottling.
2016 Fleurie Avalange de Printemps
Manual harvesting, sorting, maceration in cement tanks vats with controlled temperature. No additions, no crushing, daily pumping over. Then a relatively short elevage, still in cement
Reductive, some strawberry fruit. Silky, low/no sulfur character, very good texture. Long finishing.
2016 Fleurie Greta Carbo
What a great name! The grapes are cooled to 5°C before being put into the concrete tank, then infused with CO2, close the tank and keep at 8°C. The juices are extracted every day. Pressing after 3 weeks, end of fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats before further elevage older barrels and some demi muids – bottled after 8 months.
A wide, nose, no reduction this time. Wide, layered, depth of flavour, tasty wine, whilst still in this (good) natural style – actually this is delicious and perfumed in mid and finish.
2015 Fleurie Abbey Road
‘Well, I live in the route de l’Abbaye!’ vinified like the ‘Printemps’ but with a longer foudre elevage (600 litre barrel) – for 1 year
A little more floral on the nose. Wide, deep, layered flavour – this has a lot of concentration on the palate – I like!
Domaine Gilles Paris
Les Genets
69115 Chiroubles
tel: +33 4 74 69 12 48
Gilles Paris, based in Chiroubles, runs a 10 hectare domaine with his brother Jerome, and was president of the Beaujolais Interprofession before Dominique Piron. Gilles isn’t certified organic, but uses herbicide only in the steepest and most densely planted parcels of Chiroubles. These are long-macerated, unfiltered and often unsulfured wines.
2016 Beaujolais Villages
Vines from parents at 400 m altitude. No sulfur or chaptalisation only a dose before bottling.
A quite tight nose. In the mouth the style is open and fresh, of layered flavour with a little herb. Enjoyable.
2016 Régnié Les Forchets
The same fermentation approach but here with elevage in 5-10 year-old barrels.
A little more pure strawberry on the nose. Lovely wide flavour over the palate. Excellent wine!
2016 Chiroubles Terroir
All Tank elevage.
Bright, open wide – a strawberry perfumed fruit nose. More freshness, plenty of width again. Also high-toned perfume in the mouth. Lovely open, easy, wine.
2016 Fleurie
A little reduction here, but it soon departs. Wide, quite mineral, not overtly a wine of fruit but with a fine texture and depth and a super finish.
2016 Morgon
Lots of fresh fruit here – a real invitation. Too much gas today – carafe! Slowly the fine texture becomes apparent, long, soft edged so you won’t feel the structure – but it’s there. A fine finish again.
2016 Chiroubles Le Rescapé
‘The survivor’
A little cloudy and modest of colour. Bright natural strawberry. Also some gas but much more modest than the Morgon. Strawberry fruit again in the mouth, freshness, natural style and very tasty wine.
Domaine Yohan Lardy
Le Vivier
69820 Fleurie
Tel: +33 6 29 53 74 86
www.yohan-lardy.com
Another young domaine, Yohan Lardy started his domaine in 2012 with 2 hectares on Moulin à Vent Les Michelons. Whilst the domaine is based in Fleurie, Yohan has only half a hectare of vines in the appellation, but overall exploits 8 hectares, 6 hectares of which are in Moulin à Vent – right from start Yohan chose an organic approach in the vines and ploughing..
2016 Chénas Les Deschamps
Just 0.22 hectares.
Fresh, fine pure fruit on the nose. Wide, round, fine-textured depth of flavour – some herb, lots of fruit. Super, classic and delicious. And long too…
2016 Moulin à Vent Les Michelons
A tighter but again beautifully pure and this time more complex nose. Round, and with a mix of freshness and sucrosity. Really super, a hint of structure and fine melting flavour – excellent!
2016 Moulin à Vent Vieilles Vignes de 1903
About 1 ha 115 year-old vines! Unsurprisingly quite low yields, a good vintage would be 20 hl/ha, 15 is more likely. Only bottled 10 days.
A modest volume nose, but some freshness of fruit. Silky, some barrel competing with the fruit here, but the melting flavours are really top Level.
2014 Moulin à Vent Vieilles Vignes de 1903
From magnum – More open and fresh, more overt fruit too – very red. Direct, good, texture, slowly melting flavour, here is structure, but really nothing to worry about. Fresh and long finishing. I think the 2016 much better, but wait for that wine’s oak to fade!
Domaine Emanuel Fellot
Pierre Filant
69640 Rivolet
Tel: +33 6 77 81 68 87
www.beaujolais-fellot.com
Emmanuel has 20 hectares of vines, taking on the family domaine in 1990, with vines in the appellations of Beaujolais, Beaujolais Villages, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly. He’s currently in the process of moving his vineyard management to organic.
2017 Beaujolais Blanc Petits Grains
A big bright nose that’s really interesting. Rigour, mineral, I find the structure hard, yet it’s a wine that’s bursting with flavour.
2016 Beaujolais Blanc
One year in barrel.
A calmer nose. Rounder, more easier to appreciate. Long, direct, concentrated. This is rather good!
2017 Beaujolais Petits Grains
Like the last, argilo-calcaire soils here.
A big bright and fruity nose. Mouth-filling, tasty gamay. Easy…
2016 Beaujolais Petits Grains
A deeper more concentrated nose. Fresh, more concentrated on the palate too, with less overt sweetness. Big wine, more vin de garde I think.
2015 Beaujolais Villages Tradition
Over 100 yo vines in here.
Wide, textured complex – and that’s just the nose – yes! Big wine, concentrated, delicious but you should wait a little.
2015 Brouilly
A more high-toned nose. Rounder, again concentrated. A great finish.
2015 Côte de Brouilly
1 year elevage in barrels
A big nose with a deeper aromatic of dark-red fruit. Lots of volume and concentration.