From our Importer: 100% Gamay. In time for the 2022 vintage, the Coudert family acquired a little less than a hectare on the Moulin-à-Vent hill in front of the estate near the lieu-dit of La Rochelle. As for all Roilette vines and wines, the farming is sustainable and all vineyard work is by hand; the Moulin is made identically as well. Vinification is traditional, semi-carbonic Beaujolais style. The whole clusters are harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in open-top concrete tanks. Maceration lasts about 14 days, with a submerged cap rather than punchdowns. The wine is aged in large oak foudres from 80 to 100 years old for 9 months before bottling. Sulfur use is quite minimal. Note that the label differs from the classic Clos de la Roilette wines and features the Coudert family name instead.

The Clos de la Roilette, a lieu-dit in the village of Fleurie, covers nine hectares of one of the best slopes in the Beaujolais Crus. The clos has an eastern exposure, borders the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, and produces wines that are beautiful when young and have the capacity to age 5-10 years, depending on the vintage.

In the 1920’s, when the Fleurie appellation was first created, the former landowner was infuriated with losing the Moulin-à-Vent appellation under which the clos had previously been classified. He created a label, using a photograph of his racehorse Roilette, and used the name Clos de la Roilette without mentioning Fleurie. The owner vowed not to sell a drop of his wine on the French market and the production went to Switzerland, Germany and England.
By the mid-1960s, the owner’s heirs had lost interest in the clos and a large portion of the land had gone wild and untended. In 1967, Fernand Coudert bought this poorly maintained estate and replanted the vineyards. His son Alain joined him in 1984, and has been the winemaker since.

The Couderts say their particular terroir (mainly clay and manganese), and the age of their vines account for the richness of their wine. It has a deep blackcurrant color with a hint of purple, a restrained nose of crème de cassis, a rich, full mouth with aromas of cassis, black cherries, and a nutty character, and finishes with zesty acidity. This is a wine that ages gracefully and takes on the aromatic character of a Pinot Noir.

With the 1998 vintage, the Couderts introduced a new wine, "Cuvée Christal" (recently renamed "Cuvée Christie") which is lighter and meant to drink younger. A few years later, they started a selection of old vines cuvée. They call this "Cuvée Tardive", meaning that it needs more aging time and has even greater longevity than the regular Fleurie cuvée. Finally, the most recent addition is a wine called "La Griffe du Marquis", made from the same old vines that produce "Cuvée Tardive" but vinified and aged exclusively in Burgundian barrels.

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