Jean-Paul Dubost "Brouilly Pierreux" Beaujolais, France 2023

FROM ROSENTHAL:

THE WINE: 100% Gamay. The “Pierreux” vineyard lies below the south base of Mont Brouilly with very stony, chalk soils. The harvest undergoes a semi-carbonic maceration of whole clusters over 2-4 weeks in concrete and steel tanks, with twice daily pump-overs and is bottled with a light filtration and minimal sulphur. The wine is powerful yet briskly mineral-driven—cool-toned and stony—with tight-grained dark fruit and tons of spice; indeed, notwithstanding its lighter emotional pitch and tannic structure, it may strike one as the southerly country cousin of Morey-Saint-Denis.

THE PRODUCER: This is the primary production wine of Dubost from several parcels totalling ten hectares surrounding their home village of Lantignié, just south of Chiroubles and west of Régnié, with a terroir of Muscovite granite and blue clay. The gamay undergoes a classic semi-carbonic maceration of whole clusters over 15 days in steel tanks, with twice daily pump-overs, and is bottled in the spring with a light filtration and no added sulphur. The Beaujolais-Lantignié actually drinks more like a cru—which it may well become one day—and is frankly a terrific value. The aromas are lifted, tweaked by the barest hint of appetizing volatility, and the fruit and acidity are gorgeously interwoven.