Product Description:

"Domaine de la Madone is one of our favorites—few estates craft such character-rich, expressive Gamay outside of Beaujolais’ band of “cru” villages. But that’s Madone’s secret—their vineyards should be rated Beaujolais cru (or grand cru, if we had any say in it)—and are certainly one of the finest values for quality anywhere in the wine world. There are many terroir parallels between the village of Le Perréon and cru Fleurie, a village known for its aromatic and wonderfully elegant Gamay. Le Perréon boasts extraordinary terroir, with pink granite soils just like Fleurie; the vineyards themselves are ridiculously steep and are some of the highest in the region (more than 1,500 feet above sea level). Brothers Olivier and Bruno Bererd tend almost exclusively older vines, many which are more than 100 years old. In hotter years, these vines thrive, as their deep roots protect them from heat stress. The family’s steep hillside vineyards are a challenge to harvest (at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees!); the brothers can’t drive a tractor through their fields, as it’s too dangerous—pickers have to scoot along at severe angles and struggle with a wheelbarrow as grapes are painstakingly collected at harvest. Our selection of Beaujolais from the family’s petite cellars is vinified gently in tank, to preserve every bit of fresh, aromatic and concentrated fruit." -Importer