GRANDES MISES
SAINT-AMOUR 2023
Grape varietal
Black Gamay with white juice.
Tasting notes
With its attractive intense ruby colour and purple highlights, this vintage offers a delicate nose with floral and red fruit aromas such as wild strawberry and iris, with a hint of milk caramel and apricot. The palate is spicy, with complex aromas, a full-bodied structure, silky tannins and good length.
Serving suggestions
It would be recommended to appreciate this wine quite fresh, between 15 and 18°C. (59-64°F.), in order to be seduced by the complexity of its aromas.
Food and wine pairing
Poultry with cream and morrels pairs perfectly with this Saint-Amour.
Ageing potential
This Saint-Amour is full of charm in its youth. It can also be aged more than 5 years.
Origins
We all recognise that this most Northern Cru bears a name which is gentle to the ear and to the heart. It is the wine of poets and lovers. If it did not exist, life would be a little less charming. The village of Saint Amour gives its name to this wine. Before that, a long time ago during Gallo-Roman times, a centurion named Amor belonging to the Thébaine Legion, stationed in the Valais region of Switzerland and famous for his Christian faith suffered martyrdom. In all evidence, the ways of lovers, with their pleasures and sorrows, are rarely easy. Today the wine of Saint Amour shows two faces, according to the soil composition and indeed the vinification technique.
Terroir
The slighty slopes are the results of a strong alteration of old rocks. The extraordinary diversity of this cru can be explained by the presence of the two juxtaposed flaws: the limestone and the granitic soils.
Vine and soil
Vineyard age: 47 years old.
Yield: 56 hectoliters per hectar.
A rigorous plot selection is made on single estate.
Vines are planted on sandy soil, with old pebbly soils.They are pruned « en gobelet ». They are managed with substainable farming methods. It gives a extraordinary complexity to the Gamay wine!
Vinification and maturing
The harvest was carried out manually during the first week of September 2023.
The Gamay grapes were collected by our partner-growers, and then placed, with 100% whole bunches (without destemming), in concrete vats by gravity for a “Burgundy-style” vinification. Maceration lasted around 12-15 days with cap-punching, over-pumping and racking.
According to the plot selection, each cuvee was vinified separately. The wine was then aged in tank on fine lies and 9% in barrels.
A first bottling was made in June 2024 with a light filtration: 13,800 bottles in total.
Vintage : 2023
In 2023, the Beaujolais Gamay harvest was marked by contrasting weather conditions. A rainy spring was followed by a hot, dry summer, favouring rapid, even ripening of the grapes. These conditions helped to concentrate sugars and aromas while maintaining good acidity. Yields were slightly below average due to the summer drought, but the quality of the grapes was exceptional.
Harvesting began in early September, with healthy, ripe bunches of grapes. We were able to harvest high quality grapes, despite some losses due to the drought. Overall, the state of the harvest was excellent, with grapes of good colour and thick skins, a sign of optimum ripeness.
The quality of the wines promises to be excellent, with intense aromas of red and black fruit, floral notes and spicy nuances. Initial tasting notes reveal well-balanced, well-structured wines with lively acidity and silky tannins. Their freshness and complexity promise a long life in bottle.
Awards
- February 2025 : GOLD MEDAL - CONCOURS DES GRANDS VINS DU BEAUJOLAIS
