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2018 Côte de Brouilly

Château Thivin
Discount Eligible $31.00
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Like your Beaujolais infused with crunchy volcanic stone? Tasting at Thivin each year, it is remarkable to see the influence of the Côte de Brouilly’s blue diorite, locally called pierre bleue, as compared with the other crus of Beaujolais. Gamay here is laced with a vibrant streak of gunflint, intensified by Thivin’s wealth of century-old vines that burrow deep into the bedrock. Coating this dense, firm mineral core is an abundance of sumptuous fruit hinting at cassis, blueberry, violets, plum, and blackberry. In other words, a whole lot of Beaujolais in one bottle!

Anthony Lynch


Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2018
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Gamay
Appellation: Côte de Brouilly
Country: France
Region: Beaujolais
Producer: Château Thivin
Winemaker: Claude Geoffray
Vineyard: Average of 50 years, 8.3 ha
Soil: Blue volcanic rock comprised of plagioclase and biotite
Aging: Ages in oak foudres for six months before bottling
Farming: Organic (certified)
Alcohol: 13.5%

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About The Region

Beaujolais

map of 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.

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Kermit inspecting wine barrels

For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.