Once upon a time Beaujolais was the thin, weak wine drunk in dim Parisian cafes by students after school. Fast forward to now and you find Cru Beaujolais in three-star Michelin restaraunts, like these 'Fab Five'.
These five represent the tip-top quality that Gamay can achieve in Beaujolais.
Here are the five from North to South (or left to right).
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2018 Famille Dutraive Saint-Amour Clos du Chapitre
Saint Amour is the Northern most Cru in Beaujolais. The fruit for ‘Clos du Chapitre’ comes from a single parcel of vines and is vinified in concrete, followed by aging in steel/neutral oak for six months.
There's a lovely bouquet of ripe cherries, raspberries, licorice and earth. The wine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a succulent core of fruit, lively acids and melting tannins.
It's a real vivid wine.
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2018 Yann Bertrand Fleurie Julienas ...100%
Just South of Saint-Amour is the Cru Julienas where wine making dates back 2000 years. The Cru is actually named after Julius Caesar. This is everything you want it to be: it’s juicy, it’s fresh, and it’s seriously easy to drink. Notes of red currants, wild berries, crushed violets, and sweet spice dominate this nuanced and aromatic cuvée.
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2018 Jean Foillard Morgon Cote du Puy
The vineyards are from a very specific (and special) part in Morgon where the most intense and powerful wines of Morgon hail from.
This structured yet crushable Morgon comes from one of Beaujolais’ OG pioneers of the natural wine movement. Vibrant and lively, the wine is produced with a ‘non-interventionist’ mentality, which allows it wine to develop as naturally as possible. Dark-fruited, mineral-driven, and seriously delicious
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2018 Marcel Lapierre Morgon
Little would we know that when Marcel Lapierre took over the family domaine from his father in 1973, he was on the road to becoming a legend. The wines are striking and extraordinary.
Our notes are slim for this wine as we were too busy finishing the bottle. Here's the review in Vinous. We concure:
"Glistening ruby. Mineral-inflected red/blue fruits on the assertively perfumed nose, along with incense, exotic spices and fresh flowers. Alluringly sweet and penetrating, offering intense boysenberry and raspberry flavors braced by juicy acidity. Fine-grained tannins add spine to a wonderfully long, sappy finish that strongly repeats the floral and mineral notes."
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2019 Jean-Claude Lapalu Brouilly Vieilles Vignes
Today, of course, Lapalu is an icon in the natural wine movement, so it's interesting to reflect on how far he has come since his tentative beginnings.
He credits a Grenoblois cheese merchant, who began visiting and tasting at the domaine from 1996, as a mentor.
"He talked to me about wine in a non-academic way and helped me to form my palate. He warned me against trying to compensate in the cellar for what I was lacking in the vineyards." says Lapalu.
This Cru Brouilly has a gorgeous perfume dominated by cherry aromas, which is often a characteristic of Brouilly. This is a more delicate and nuanced wine, complex and ethereal. Lapalu's Brouilly VV is for the Pinot-loving Beaujolais drinker.
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There's our Five-Pack and it's on-sale!
$216 (usually $240 for all five).
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Call or email 805.568.1961 to reserve yours and we'll have it ready ASAP for curbside pickup
or in store pick up (or even delivery if you like)
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2018 Morey-Coffinet Chassagne-Montrachet Les Houilleres
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2006 Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore
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2018 Donnhoff Riesling Hermanshohle G.G.
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The Wines of Paolo Bea

An Outstanding Chenin Blanc by Pierre Menard in Anjou
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2018 Suertes del Marques Valle de la Orotava Cruz Santa (Canary Islands Red)