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2019 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
Guy BretonUnlike Morgon or Côte-de-Brouilly, Chiroubles is not a Beaujolais cru that has been a fixture of our portfolio over the last five decades. Exceptional wines from here have proved elusive because, until recently, high-quality cru Beaujolais had not been popular enough to justify the backbreaking labor and financial investment involved in farming these incredibly steep slopes. We imported one in the ’90s, and then not again until the 2017 vintage, when Guy Breton decided to pursue Chiroubles and crafted one of our most beautiful Beaujolais of that vintage. He’s back with an equally perfumed and silky rendition that has a habit of vanishing quickly. Chiroubles sits in the middle of the vertical band of the ten Beaujolais crus and represents the highest-altitude cru. Its elevation and cooler temperatures mean that grapes ripen more slowly and often produce wines that are among the least concentrated of the region. Guy’s Chiroubles is floral and succulent, bursting with notes of little red berries, but it is also delicate and light on its feet. It serves as a phenomenal counterpoint to some of the more structured Gamays that we import from Beaujolais. Try this wine alongside some chicken salad or grilled fish.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Chiroubles |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Guy Breton |
Winemaker: | Guy Breton |
Vineyard: | 60 years old, 1.2 ha |
Soil: | Granite |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
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About The Producer
Guy Breton
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.
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
When buying red Burgundy, I think we should remember:
1. Big wines do not age better than light wine.
2. A so-called great vintage at the outset does not guarantee a great vintage for the duration.
3. A so-called off vintage at the outset does not mean the wines do not have a brilliant future ahead of them.
4. Red Burgundy should not taste like Guigal Côte-Rôtie, even if most wine writers wish it would.
5. Don’t follow leaders; watch yer parking meters.
Inspiring Thirst, page 174