Beaujolais Case

A Wine Champion in 2023 following our extensive blind tastings. 'Fabulous purity` and ‘lipsmacking freshness` secured victory for this delightful 2022, primed, said Sebastian Payne MW, for a ‘delicious steak` and a high probability of finishing the bottle!

Made in partnership with Maison Jacques Dépagneux, this is a juicy, ripe gamay from from two well-respected growers with well-sited vineyards in Régnié, mainly on southeast facing slopes. The wine, from the excellent 2022 vintage, was matured in stainless steel tanks to ensure maximum fruit expression, depth of flavour and purity. For more on the story of this wine, please scroll down.

A soft, mellow, highly satisfying fully mature Fleurie from an impeccable source, this was aged in small wooden barrels and is now showing Burgundy-like mellowness. It displays the hallmark perfume so typical of the wines of Fleurie. A Beaujolais cru perfect for drinking now.

From Quincié, considered one of the finest of the Beaujolais villages, this has a bouquet of crushed raspberries, a burst of ripe fruit on the palate and a bright, clean finish.

A member favourite for many years, this is copybook, perfumed Fleurie delivering plenty of supple, ripe fruit. Perfect with roast chicken and other fowl. The Montengeron family have their vines close to the border with Morgon and their Fleurie needs a year in bottle to show at its best. It comes from a number of different vineyard parcels (Chamilles, Champagne and Rochaux) that all lie mid-slope (generally regarded as the best spot for vines), on sandy soils.

The 2023 Côtes de Brouilly is a serious vintage, with structure and minerality, capturing the generous purity of fruit from the vintage with freshness, structure and elegance. At 320ha this is one of the smallest of the crus but it has a strong personality. It is an oval-shaped hill with vineyards at all points of the compass, including one called La Glacière (the glacier) on the north-facing slope. Whilst most Beaujolais comes from soils of pink granite, the Côte de Brouilly`s soils are principally bluish, composed of diorite, an igneous rock of a bluish grey colour with a green cast, together with some schist and granite. Its wines are structured, mineral and age worthy. This is a blend of two wines. One was selected for its wonderfully ripe, richly fruity, concentrated and creamy texture, blended this with a more structured and mineral wine which contributed some underlying freshness and improved the length of flavour. Try with beetroot roasted with shallots, garlic and thyme.