Domaine La Soufrandière
2009 Beaujolais-Leynes
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BRITISH COLUMBIA
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"..the 2009 Beaujolais are gloriously generous and genuinely complex, as fine as any wines from this region in recent memory."
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Domaine de La Soufrandière
Beaujolais-Leynes Bien-Venu in X-tremis Rouge 2009
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(89-90) POINTS - Wine Advocate
"The talented Bret brothers - on whose outstanding Maconnais offerings both as negociant and estate I'll report later this year - have an abiding love for the Gamay grown immediately to their south, which in the case of their 2009 Beaujolais-Leynes - tasted just after it had finished malo in demi-muid in April - has been put into practice with obvious success. (Hail decimation rendered the 2008 crop from this parcel - which the Brets are converting to a biodynamic regimen - too small for commercial release.) Rich, almost candied cherry, cassis, and plum; brown spices; and game in the nose are allied on a deeply concentrated palate with the exuberance and energy that characterize this vintage's best wines, fresh berries, tart fruit skin, peat smoke, and salinity complementing the sweetly ripe side of the wine and serving for invigoration. Amazingly, this was already picked September 2, and offers further proof of the potential for Gamay in this village where granite meets and occasionally mingles with chalk."
August 2010 Issue #190
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 | | Jean-Guillaume & Jean-Philippe |
THE STORY
Jean-Philippe and Jean-Guillaume Bret have been an extraordinary discovery for Liquid Art. Since their first vintage in 2000 they have established themselves as one of the premier producers of white Burgundy. Their newest venture is a 0.75 hectare plot of Gamay, which produced a tiny quantity of Beaujolais in 2009.
The Gamay is harvested from a granite rich south facing plot on the hillside of Leynes. The vines are between 40 to 60 years in age. The grapes are hand-picked, whole berries are partially crushed then macerate for 2 to 3 weeks before being matured in small barrels for 15 months.
The combination of granite and Gamay can be sublime - in Beaujolais' greatest sites it produces wines with a thrilling balance of tangy berry fruit and bracing stoniness. The 2009 Bien-Venu in X-Tremis is a classic example of Beaujolais at its exuberant best, plummy and rich and phenomenally intense.
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