Brouilly Vieilles Vignes is the combination of two cuvées, one made by carbonic maceration, the other a traditional vinification with destemmed grapes, the cuvaison lasts for 10 to 20 days. The two cuvées are then assembled after their malolactic fermentation and spend the winter in stainless steel tanks. The dark red fruits on the nose and palate can’t disguise a probing minerality; if ever granite was translated into liquid this is the case.
JEAN-CLAUDE LAPALU, Saint-Etienne-la-VarenneCertified Organic, In Biodynamic conversion Natural
Jean-Claude Lapalu is of a generation that sits between Beaujolais natural wine pioneers Foillard, Chamonard, Lapierre, Thevenet .. and the new generation of young guns - Remi Dufaitre, Alex Foillard, Julien Metras..
He began his domaine in 1996, previously, his family had been grape growers selling to the cooperative. He made his first commercial wines in 2000. He owns 9 hectares of vines in Brouilly, most of which are old (60–80 years, some are much older), and which are farmed biodynamically, Jean-Claude spend most of his effort in the vineyards, which he knows inside out, and adapt vinification to each site. Jean-Claude only uses indigenous yeasts and doesn’t use any sulphur during vinification, there is only some added at the bottling and then only in very small quantities: 2gr/hl
Grapes are hand-picked and sorted, loaded by conveyor to avoid damage, during the 8-10 day maceration a wooden grill is sometimes used to enhance gentle extraction. The wine stays at least a half year on its fine lees gaining power and complexity. These are truly remarkable expressions of Beaujolais.