2024 Clos de la Roilette, Fleurie “Cuvée Christie” Cru Beaujolais, France.
These Clos de la Roilette wines, which I’ve said many times before, are very authentic and joyful offerings, and this 2024 Fleurie Cuvée Christie is a beauty with amazing purity and a ripe palate of terroir driven Gamay. The dark purple/ruby color is inviting and silky mouth feel easy to love, along with the array of brambly blackberry, plum, strawberry and pomegranate fruit, mineral tones, subtle earthiness, a light crunch of herbs, sweet florals and cinnamon spice make for a delicious Cru Beaujolais. Typically Clos de la Roilette uses 100% whole cluster with a spontaneous native yeast primary fermentation, which is done in open-top, neutral wood vats with, as the winery notes, the cap submerged for an extended maceration. The said this was 100% whole cluster and semi-carbonic fermented in all concrete, with a 12 day maceration, after which, the aging lasting 8 months in old foudres,and then bottled with ultra low SO2, for freshness and purity. This limited bottling, with the white label, instead of the well known yellow estate label, is a very tasty wine that is delightful in its immediate pleasure and I highly recommend it to Gamay lovers.
One of Beaujolais’ most iconic producers, the Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie, run by Alain and Alexis Coudert, is a small estate that makes traditional old vine offerings, with Gamays of concentration, texture and complexity, but that are always a bit raw and leathery in style. These Fleurie bottlings, like this one proudly show off their earthiness along with the granite soil influenced mineral core.The Domaine Clos de la Roilette got its name from the prior owner’s prized race horse Roilette and the iconic yellow horse label remains a big part of this estate’s identity. Clos de la Roilette has been around more than a hundred years, but it was in serious decline and most of the vines had gone feral when the Couderts took it over in 1967, and after a lot of hardwork, they turned things around and have especially flourished under the guidance of Alain, who after joining the winegrowing team in 1984 turned the property into one of the region’s most admired producers. Please notes that this wine is from a 40 year old family plot outside of the main Clos de la Roilette parcels so it does not get the estate name on the label. I am a fan of all the wines here, and especially the more age worthy Cuvée Tardine from 80 year old vines, though this one has impressed me too!
($32 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive