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2020 Côte-de-Brouilly
Nicole Chanrion
Variations on granite, much like limestone in Burgundy, are the soil signature that combines with the Gamay grape to deliver the inimitable results of the Beaujolais. The Côte-de-Brouilly’s inactive volcano imparts a distinctive smoky, flinty quality to the wines grown here, adding backbone to their ripe fruitiness. Nicole Chanrion, who has worked the northern flank of the Côte for five decades, is now joined by her son, Romain, and together they continue this domaine’s worthy tradition of producing soulful, deep, structured reds from their family’s old vines. Their wines are among the longest-lived in the region.
—Dixon Brooke
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2020 |
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: | 14.5% |
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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.
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Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
You don’t have to be rich to cellar a great wine.