2020 Justin Dutraive Fleurie Chapelle des Bois (1500ml)
WINEMAKER: Justin Dutraive
REGION: Beaujolais, FR
VARIETAL: Gamay
VITICULTURE: Organic
BIG BOT. Not much of this... “Dark cherry red with nice clarity and a softness to the highlights. From 100+ year old vines in the lieu-dit of Chapelle des Bois gifted to Justin by his grandfather Jean-Claude. Deeper more complex and secondary notes here. A light dusting of oak spice on pouring folds back in and delicate but complex notes cedar and dried herbs blend with red plum, dried raspberry and a strong note of dried rose perfume. A fairly earthy impression overall despite the perfume. That earthiness becomes pronounced savoury minerality on the palate, again shaving the ripe edge off the delicate red fruits, which are further silenced by fine but persistent tannins. A little spice from the oak. There is no hiding the pedigree of this vineyard; despite the lighter maceration it is a finely structured and tightly coiled example destined for future greatness. 13.5%” Tim Stock, October 2022
Justin is considered to be a leader of the second gen of natural Beaujolais masters along with Jules Metras, Damien Coquelet, Alex Fouillard etc, all of whom are his best mates. The future of high-class natural Beaujolais is strong! Justin currently leases his old parcel of Beaujolais, but he was able to buy his Beaujolais-Villages vineyard before the 2016 vintage. The Beaujolais vineyard sits in between corn and wheat fields. It is isolated from other vineyards, which probably helps shield it from disease.
All the vineyards are worked organically with everything except spraying done by hand, including weed removal. Justin Dutraive’s wines are made with similar techniques and philosophy to those of his father, albeit with some slightly different fermentation vessels (stainless included). Aside from his work at Domaine de la Grand’Cour, Justin has worked with Jean Foillard and Julie Blagny in Beaujolais, at vineyards in Oregon and spent the 2016 vintage working at Sinapius and Gentle Folk in Australia.