2023 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie, Beaujolais, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

100% Gamay. Being on the border of the Moulin-à-Vent cru, the core of Roilette’s Fleurie terroir is atypical of Fleurie, rich in clay and the mineral manganese instead of all granite; the wines are thus more structured than many Fleurie wines. This bottling comes from vines averaging 30 to 45 years old. They are farmed sustainably and the soils worked by hand, only twice a year and very carefully in order to not do damage to the older plants’ roots. The fruit is hand harvested and fermented in whole clusters with native yeasts in open-top, neutral vats with the cap kept submerged; the maceration for the Fleurie is approximately 14 days. Aging takes places in old foudres until bottling in the summer following harvest.

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.