GRANDES MISES
BEAUJOLAIS BLANC 2022
Grape varietal
100% Chardonnay.
Tasting notes
This Chardonnay wine shows a beautiful pale yellow and crystalline colour. The nose offers intense aromas of white flowers with light notes of exotic fruits and the mouth is surprising, with a fantastic minerality and a perfect balance between roundness and acidity. A beautiful white Beaujolais!
Serving suggestions
Best served decanted and enjoyed quite cool, between 12° and 14° C. (54-57°F) to discover its elegance and complexity.
Food and wine pairing
Perfect match as an aperitif or throughout a meal with fish, goat cheeses, oysters.
Ageing potential
This Beaujolais is a wine that is designed to be enjoyed in its youth. It can also keep for up to 6 years.
Origins
Although tradition has it that Beaujolais is a region of red wine production, some plots, thanks to the different textures of their sub-soils, allow the successful blooming of the Chardonnay grape variety. Created in 1937, the Beaujolais white has two birthplaces: Villefranche in the Rhône and the canton of La Chapelle de Guinchay in the Saône-et-Loire.
Terroir
Parcels of our Beaujolais blanc are situated in the village of Saint-Amour,(Rhône) and on the ‘plateau du bois de Loyse’, in the village of La Chapelle de Guinchay near Beaujolais, in Saône-et-Loire. The soils are mainly composed of limestone and clay interspersed with sandy granite veins. They are situated on the border between the granite slopes and the former bed of the Saône River. The Chardonnay vines are fed by the river’s more recent sediments, and soil deposits that date back to Hercynian period lend them a gentle trace of minerality.
Vine and soil
Age of Vines: 30 years
Yield: 50 hectolitres per hectare
Plots: From a grass vineyard of 10ha50, rigorously selected by the partner-grower. The plots crashed on the plateau, benefit from all the orientations.
Vinification and maturing
The Chardonnay grapes were harvested on August 2022, the 25th and the 27th.
They were then pressed, and musts were then settled under control temperature before the fermentation which occured at low temperature (18-20°C. / 64-68°F.).
A short ageing (6 months) took place in stainless steel tanks to preserve the wine's minerality, purity of fruit and crisp acidity.
Vintage : 2022
Rainfall in June was highly variable from one area to another. In the south of Beaujolais, where most of the Chardonnays are concentrated, there was little rain, unlike the north, where the crus are located.
The intense heat of July and August accelerated the ripening process for the Gamay grapes. The harvest was characterised by great disparity between the plots. Some grapes did not withstand these extreme conditions and lost a lot of juice, while others resisted them exceptionally well. Several factors explain these divisions such as the heavily drained soil, the exposure, and the age and yield on the vine. There was little difference between the early and late sectors.
The harvest took place from 23 August to 10 September.
Volumes were lower throughout the appellation, but the quality was good.
This year we have focused on de-stemming with long macerations to enhance the wine's elegance. Naturally, our traditional semi-carbonated vinification with whole grapes is still used to extract the aromatic finesse of the Gamay grapes, as well as some hot pre-fermentative maceration to extract as much colour as possible from the grapes that suffered the most from the drought.
The wines are beautifully concentrated with a lovely volume in the mouth. Tannins are prominent. Tasting is a real pleasure. The nose and palate reveal raspberry and cherry liqueur aromas, smooth blueberry cream accompanied by violets, dark chocolate and pear.
