Tasted in Chénas with Elisa Guérin, 03 April 2024.
Domaine d’Elisa Guérin
D68
69840 Chénas
Phone: +33 4 74 04 46 88
Producer Instagram
Elisa is 4th generation to make wine here: her great-grandfather was a maker and ager of wine – but each generation has added a little to the surface that they exploit – today it’s 5 hectares – 4 ha are in Moulin à Vent and another hectare is in Chiroubles. Elisa has been working here since 2019 and from the start she chose to move some parcels to working organically. She is still working with her father, though he’s officially due to retire this year…
During the domaine’s fermentations there is no added sulfur or yeasts – all the wines are made using whole-clusters. Finally, there’s ‘a little‘ sulfur for the bottlings. Previously, 90% of the production from here was sold to négociants, but that’s no longer the case, indeed today about 50% of her production is exported – mainly US/UK plus Scandinavia and Holland…
Elisa on 2023:
“In 2023 I moved from 4 to 5 cuvées as the volumes were good. I will now separate a cuvée of Champs de Cours which was part of my ‘father’s cuvée’ which is the assembly of multiple parcels.”
The wines…
On my first visit here, I tasted some very impressive wines – and, as is common in 2022, I’d be tempted to wait about 2 years before drinking them…
2022 Beaujolais Villages
On blue schist and limon.
Bright, crunchy red fruit invitation. Wide, fresh and juicy – this has a fine and growing intensity and is openly inviting you to take another sip. Very tasty wine with some complex finishing bitters – lovely!
2022 Moulin à Vent Vigne de Mon Père
An average 50-year-old vine from multiple soil types all around Mav.
More colour here. An airy, silky impression – darker fruit. Larger and more concentrated – but still mouth-wateringly juicy flavours. Wide and graphite style finishing but always with an elegant tough – no hard structure. Slowly, deliciously fading.
2022 Moulin à Vent Les Thorins
Have 1.5 ha here… Granite and deep soil, lots of erosion and some red clays with iron here – extra water here too for their 60-80-year-old vines.
Narrower but also deeper nose. Larger in the mouth, growing with extra intensity. The texture is velour – there’s an accent of dryness from the tannin but there’s no grain. Intense, almost serious – keep it 2+ years in your cellar before drinking but this is clearly excellent wine! The finish is wider and more perfumed than what the rest of the wine is showing today – but I’m sure that will grow to match…
2022 Chiroubles
A single parcel – a second one is waiting to be planted. Partly with 110-year-old vines and the other 2/3rds of about 50 years – these vines are from Elisa’s mother’s side of the family.
A broader and more energetic nose – more herbs and mineral complexity here – it’s very inviting. Large scale – the structure is more evident here, perhaps a faint, almost gentian, accent, and the flavours are framed with a modest dryness of tannin but without any grain. The finish impresses in its saline and graphite persistence – long and only slowly fading into the distance. That’s going to be super but wait 2 years!