Look at a map of Beaujolais, and you will notice that the region’s ten crus more or less stack up north to south with the exception of the southernmost two. Brouilly isn’t above or below the Côte de Brouilly: it completely encircles it, resembling a bullseye on the map. Zoom in, and you’ll notice that we owe these unusual boundaries to a majestic hill called Mont Brouilly.
     The Côte de Brouilly appellation covers all sides of Mont Brouilly, its gnarled vines digging through heaps of pierre bleue, the hard, blueish igneous rock typical of this cru. Its incredibly steep incline and unique soils produce what are some of the most mineral, age-worthy reds of the entire Beaujolais region. Nicole Chanrion’s rendition, from the northeastern face of Mont Brouilly, is packed with notes of red fruit and stones, and while charming now, it will evolve beautifully over the medium to long term. Château Thivin’s Côte de Brouilly—an old-vine blend evoking succulent cherries and black tea, from the best plots on Mont Brouilly’s southern side—is about as fine and age-worthy a bottle as you can find anywhere.
     Thivin’s bottling from the pink granite slopes of Brouilly serves as the perfect lens through which to taste the differences in these two appellations. While not as chiseled, the Brouilly is plush, perfumed, and hedonistic. Hailing from Reverdon, an east-facing plot a stone’s throw from the Côte, it features the silky Gamay fruit and floral suggestions that make great Beaujolais impossible to resist.
     Finally, Alex Foillard’s Brouilly comes from the aptly named La Folie (Madness), a steep vineyard just above Reverdon. If the general rule is that Brouilly is the Côte’s slightly softer, more sensuous sibling, Foillard’s is the exception, proving to be as deep and powerful as the best examples from the Côte. This is perhaps the wine that, more than any other, blurs the boundaries between the two crus—madness, indeed!
     With this sampler, you will taste two classic examples of Côte de Brouilly, and two contrasting bottles from neighboring Brouilly. While the nuances of terroir invite endless debate, one thing is certain: these adjoining appellations bring out the very best in the Gamay grape, making for some truly delicious and enthralling bottles of cru Beaujolais.