Pierre-Marie Chermette "Les Champs-Grilles" Saint Amour '23

While the wines of Chermette are a bit under the radar, the estate’s viticultural roots trace back to 1636 in Vissoux. Continuous wine-growing truly took off in the 1870s when Claude-Marie Vissoux constructed the vaulted stone cellar that is still meticulously maintained today.  Having to rebuild after World War II, Eugénie Vissoux and Maurice Chermette officially revived the wine-growing operation, gaining local recognition for their work in the cellar.  This continued until 1982 when, after earning a National Diploma of Oenologist from the University of Dijon in 1980, Pierre-Marie Chermette returned home to take over the estate at just 22 years old. At the time, his father was selling wine in bulk to négociants. Pierre-Marie made the bold structural decision to move entirely to estate bottling to maintain total independence and quality control.

In the 1980s Beaujolais Nouveau was all the rage as was heavily chaptalized (sugar-added) wines in the region.  Pierre-Marie explicitly rejected this industrial approach. Instead, he pioneered a philosophy of making wine as naturally as possible.  A philosophy his son, Jean-Étienne Chermette, who formally took over operations in 2023, continues to this day.

The 2023 Pierre-Marie Chermette "Les Champs-Grilles comes from the northernmost Cru in Beaujolais, Saint Amour, just 12km south of Mâcon.  This wine comes from the lieu-dit of "Les Champs-Grilles" situated in the heart of the Saint-Amour appellation on soil composed of sand and schist.  The wine follows traditional vinification methods of Beaujolais with whole cluster fermentation with two pump overs per day, which lasts between 10 to 12 days in concrete tanks with indigenous yeasts.  The wine is then aged for 5 months in old oak foudres.

The resulting wine starts with aromas of red fruits and violets.  On the palate, there is a balance of tannins and perfume with an abundance of red fruit. This wine goes great on its own but will also be great with red meat and poultry.  This is a fantastic wine for red meat as well as poultry and, while we're shocked to note the timing, this would be a fantastic edition to your Thanksgiving feast!