2016 M. Lapierre, Julienas, Cru Beaujolais, France.
The new Julienas from Mathieu Lapierre is sourced from the lieu-dit Côte de Bessay (single vineyard plot) from 60 year old vines set on volcanic and schist soils and makes for a great addition to the Lapierre lineup with it’s bright and spicy character, it’s a tad more delicate than the Morgon Cru wines, as you’d expect, but it has a wonderful clarity and persistence on the palate. Lapierre is one of the stars of the natural wine movement and continues with pure and organic wines that inspire the world over, imported by Kermit Lynch, they are one of the elite producers of Gamay and Beaujolais wines along with Foillard, Breton, Thevenet, Dutraive, Julien Sunier and Jean-Paul Brun as well as many more. The 2016 Julienas by Mathieu & Camille Lapierre is a beautiful wine, and as with all of the wines by Lapierre it was native yeast fermented whole cluster at cold cellar temps with a maceration that usually lasts about two weeks to 20 days with very low sulfur (this is not a totally no sulfur cuvee) and aged about 9 months in used Burgundy barrels (ranging from 3 year to 13 year passage) along with no fining or filtering. What sets Lapierre apart is their attention to detail, passion and fanatical sorting of the gapes to ensure the highest quality in each and every wine, and this Julienas performs at the highest level, in fact it might be the best Julienas I’ve ever tasted! Brilliant and fresh with vibrant fruit and delicate spring flowers lead the way with a dark garnet/ruby hue in the glass and a wonderful expressive Gamay grapey palate with black raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, plum and cherry fruits as well as zesty cinnamon, pecan/cedar, saline, red peach, liquid violets and faint mineral tones. This wine is a class act and the light nature and quality give this wine a winning appeal and is attractive in every sense, it’s going to be a hard get at this point, but worth the search as are all of Lapierre’s wine, drink now and for 3 to 5 years, it’s a gorgeous clean and vivid holiday cuisine companion.
($28-32 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
