Gamay, Clos de la Roilette Magnum

2020 was a somewhat difficult vintage with dry, hot conditions and a very early harvest, but fortunately some rain late in the season helped the grapes mature normally even if yields were very low. 

Considered one of the finest producers in Beaujolais, Clos de la Roilette has 9 hectares in Fleurie, with one of the top slopes in all of the ten Beaujolais crus. The Clos has an eastern exposure, borders the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, and yields remarkably age-worthy Gamay. 

In 1967, Fernand Coudert bought this poorly maintained estate and replanted the vineyards. His son Alain joined him in 1984 and has been the winemaker since. The Couderts feel that their particular terroir (mainly clay and manganese) and the age of their vines (30 to 80 years old) account for the richness and intensity of their wines. They are deeply colored, richly perfumed and seriously structured wines of relatively small production.

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.