Notify me
2014 Côte-de-Brouilly
Nicole ChanrionEnough beating around the bush: Nicole Chanrion’s Côte-de-Brouilly is not only among the best values in Beaujolais, it should be on any list of best quality, too. No, I’m not exaggerating or making a sales pitch. Highly delicious and strongly evocative of its terroir, it can be carelessly quaffed today but will hold up for ten years easily, its lively fruit gradually giving way to a deep complexity and gutsy structure. By sticking to a time-tested formula— hand-harvested old-vine fruit, whole-cluster fermentation with native yeasts, old foudres, and (you guessed it) no filtration—Nicole creates some of the most honest and affordable cru Beaujolais on the market. It smells good, too: pull the cork and breathe in the intoxicating perfume to see what I mean.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2014 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Côte-de-Brouilly |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Nicole Chanrion |
Winemaker: | Nicole Chanrion |
Vineyard: | 50 years, 3.5 ha |
Soil: | Schist, Porphyry |
Aging: | Ages for at least nine months before an unfiltered bottling |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 12.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
2021 Fleurie
France | Beaujolais
Light and living, charged with herbs, cranberry, and strawberry.
2022 Beaujolais-Villages “Cuvée Marylou”
France | Beaujolais
French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan says nostalgia is the longing for a past that never was. But, hand to god, this year's Cuvee Marylou tastes just like the raspberry thumbprint cookies my mother used to make for Christmas.
2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
France | Beaujolais
The 2021 vintage proved an elegant one for Thivin’s Brouilly, with all the suppleness and tonicity you’d expect from this storied estate.
2015 Côte-de-Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
Nicole's thick, chewy Côte de Brouilly is a delicious and satisfying wine aging at a glacial pace.
2021 Côte de Brouilly HALF BOTTLE
France | Beaujolais
Cassis, blueberry, violets, plum, and blackberry. In other words, a whole lot of Beaujolais in one bottle!
2022 Régnié “En Voiture Simone”
France | Beaujolais
The high-toned nose suggests an absolutely electric wine, full of delicate florals and tart berries, and the juice hits the palate like a dreamy cloud of Gamay.
2021 Beaujolais-Villages
France | Beaujolais
This drinks like a Gamay infusion with lovely hints of potpourri, spice, and fresh grapes.
2022 Vin de France Blanc “Perle de Gamay”
France | Beaujolais
Notes of stones, pear, and citrus... Enjoy as a refreshing, mineral apéritif or alongside your favorite fresh seafood.
2021 Côte-de-Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
March Rouge ~ Nicole Chanrion crafts delicious Beaujolais the traditional way, by hand-harvesting, fermenting with whole clusters, and patiently aging in large oak foudres.
2022 Beaujolais Rosé
France | Beaujolais
The result is a pretty, round, and versatile rosé full of notes of red fruit, melon, and rhubarb. It finishes with a subtle herbal note and foodfriendly acidity.
About The Producer
Nicole Chanrion
About The Region
Beaujolais
After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.
The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.
Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.
More from Beaujolais or France
2021 Morgon “Eponym”
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2021 Fleurie
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2022 Morgon “La Roche Pilée”
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Fleurie “Les Moriers”
Domaine Chignard France | Beaujolais
2020 Morgon “Eponym”
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2022 Morgon
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly HALF BOTTLE
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais Rosé
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon Tradition
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais-Villages
Alex Foillard France | Beaujolais
2021 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon “Eponym”
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2021 Fleurie
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2022 Morgon “La Roche Pilée”
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Fleurie “Les Moriers”
Domaine Chignard France | Beaujolais
2020 Morgon “Eponym”
Jean Foillard France | Beaujolais
2022 Morgon
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly HALF BOTTLE
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais Rosé
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon Tradition
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais-Villages
Alex Foillard France | Beaujolais
2021 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch