2022 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie "Cuvée Christie", Beaujolais, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

100% Gamay. "Cuvée Christie" is an exception among Roilette estate wines in a few ways. It is the newest bottling, the first vintage having been in 1999. The vines are "young" for Roilette, mainly in the 30-40-year range. They are not part of the original Clos de la Roilette vineyard and thus, more crucially, have more typical Fleurie soils vs. the Roilette's, with more granite than clay or manganese. Because these two parcels are outside the Clos, the label is different as well, featuring the Coudert family name instead of "Clos de la Roilette". The wine's name originally was "Christal", a playful combination of Alain Coudert's kids' names (Alexis + Christie); it changed to today's "Cuvéee Christie" after a well-known Champagne house sued over the use of "Christal".

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

In the 1920s, when the Fleurie appellation was first created, the former landowner was infuriated with losing the Moulin-à-Vent appellation under which he had previously been classified. He created a label, using a photograph of his horse, Roilette, and used the name Clos de la Roilette, without mentioning Fleurie. The current label does mention the name of the appellation, but only as a subscript.
Coudert's Fleurie, often better known as "that delicious wine with the horse on the label", comes from the Clos de la Roilette, in the village of Fleurie The vineyard has an eastern exposure that borders the Moulin-à-Vent and is situated on one of the best slopes in the Beaujolais Crus. Father-son winemaking team, Fernand and Alain Coudert, say their particular terroir (mainly clay and manganese), and the age of their vines (25 to 33 years-old) account for the richness of their Fleurie.