2015 Justin Dutraive, Beaujolais “Les Bullands” France.
The first release for Justin Dutraive, the eldest son of the famed Jean-Louis Dutraive of Fleurie, is an exciting single site wine, Les Bullands a plot of old vines just below the town of Fleurie. Justin, like his dad, uses organic grapes, cools the grapes at harvest and native ferments them with almost no sulfur, he employs a semi-carbonic style and used a semi-round glass fiber vessel to ferment and age his Beaujolais, this is an artisan premier effort and the results are a pure and juicy Gamay with refined texture and it is delightfully aromatic. There are more small lot hand-crafted wines to follow, and this is going to be a must have label to get in on from the start, both Justin and his father are followers of Jules Chauvet and believe in natural wines and purity of terroir, much the same as Lapierre just down the road in Morgon, I am looking forward to trying his upcoming Fleurie Cru Beaujolais Chapelle des Bois as well, which if this wine is anything to go by will be a stunner! The 2015 vintage is bold and rich with expressive ripeness, but Justin was able to dial back the sweet/fruity nature and allow a balanced form of place and Gamay to shine through, while still having a lush and silken mouth feel and juicy fun palate with enough acidity to brighten things up and energize the wine. The nose is delicately perfumed with wilted roses and dried violets leading to a light to medium bodied palate of raspberry, black cherry, plum and wild strawberry fruits along with hints of pepper, tart red peach, cinnamon and herbs, plus a touch of pecan husk and crisply tangy red currant. This Les Bullands is not overly complex or flamboyant, but very stylish and easy to quaff, best to serve slightly chilled and can be enjoyed with or without food, though more fun with friends and lovers, drink now.
($28 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
