2023 Château de la Bottière Juliénas

100% Gamay from 55 year old vines in the La Bottière lieu-dit on granite spoils. Fermented with native yeasts and aged for 12 months in a combination of concrete tanks and old wooden foudres. On the nose, it is a breeze of dark raspberries and wild strawberries and black tea, peppered with crushed violets, peonies, star anise, and an undercurrent of dark, stony earth. It is plenty smooth, pretty, and soft, but there is also a nice crunch of acid and tannin which gives the wine its lift and palate persistence. While exceedingly drinkable now, we’re confident it has enough gusto for short-term aging (3-5 years). One of the many marvels of great Cru Beaujolais is that it can be richly colored and quite deeply concentrated but lively and refreshing at the same time. There’s fruit, earth, and flowers in abundance, but no excesses of tannin or alcohol.