Clos de la Roilette Fleurie "Cuvée Christie" '23

Clos de la Roilette is a lieu-dit in the village of Fleurie, covering nine hectares of a prized slope in the Beaujolais cru area. When the Fleurie appellation was first created, in the 1920s, the former landowner was displeased with losing the Moulin-à-Vent appellation under which the clos had previously been classified, so he created a label, with a photograph of his racehorse Roilette, and used the name Clos de la Roilette without mentioning Fleurie. Rather than selling the wine on the French market, the owner instead sold it to the Swiss, German, and English markets.
 
By the mid-1960s, the owner’s heirs had lost interest in the clos and a large portion of the land had gone wild and untended. In 1967, Fernand Coudert bought the estate and replanted the vineyards. His son Alain joined him in 1984 and has been the winemaker since then.
 
Made from Gamay, “Cuvée Christie” comes from about three hectares of land spread over two parcels near the village of Fleurie. Although owned by the Coudert family, they are not part of the original Clos de la Roilette estate vineyard, a notable difference because the soils are more typical of Fleurie, with more granite than those of the Clos estate vineyard. The vines range from 30 to 40 years old. Sustainable farming is practiced, and all work in the vineyards is manual. Vinification is traditional, semicarbonic Beaujolais style. The whole clusters are harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in open-top concrete tanks. Maceration lasts about 10 days, with a submerged cap rather than punch-downs. The wine is aged in large oak foudres, ranging from 80 to 100 years in age, for 9 months before bottling. 

The 2023 offers gorgeous notes of black cherries, flowers, and spice on the nose. Soft, bright with more red fruit flavors, hints of orange peel, and a soft, juicy finish. A delicious everyday Beaujolais from one of the icons of the region. 
 
(The label for this bottling differs from the classic Clos de la Roilette wines and features the Coudert family name instead. The wine is named for Alain Coudert’s daughter Christie.)