2019 Clos de la Bruyère Eléments
WINEMAKER: Julien Courtois & Heidi Kuka
REGION: Loire Valley, FR
VARIETAL: Gamay
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic
"A unique wine composed of a rare tenturier grape varietal named Gamay-Chaudenay. 50 year old vines planted on clay-silex. Aged for 18 months in barrique; Unfined. Low SO2 added. A concentrated juice with spice, mint, and animal notes. On the palate this is a fruit bomb, with beautiful depth. On the whole a structured wine boasting great drinkability." - Paul Hervy
"I met Julien Courtois a few years back in 2010 at a random tasting in Tours where I used to live. Back then I wasn’t working in wine but always had a lot of enthusiasm to taste, chat and discover things that I didn’t know. I had the idea of doing something with wine later so I had to start somewhere. It’s funny how sometimes you remember some flavour, perfume, some wine you had tasted and it sticks with you and becomes part of your memory. For some reason you want to chase this memory when tasting other wines but Julien’s wines are so unique and profound, that it makes this process a difficult quest. I had this exact feeling not only with Courtois’s wine, but also with my first sip of Clos Rougeard.
Julien and his kiwi partner Heidi (who is behind the design of the beautiful Maori wine labels), have had their own vineyard since 1998, Clos de La Bruyere. Stepping aside, but not too far, from his dad Claude Courtois, who is an emblematic figure of natural wine in France (quite a character), Julien is the eldest child in the family and has approximately 4.5 hectares. You can find a multitude of grape varieties in his vineyards and many of them are planted franc de pied – ungrafted. The vineyard grows in total freedom, with not much intervention, other than Julien and Heidi. No pesticides, no herbicides, Julien has stepped back from the appellation and all his wines are now are in Vin de France so he can express himself a bit better and stop following rules that didn’t seem logical to him and his philosophy. His wines are precise and you can see lots of attention to detail in them." - Paul Hervy