Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Les Griottes 2018
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1 or more bottles$34.99
Editors notes
"From his base in southern Beaujolais, Pierre Chermette has become one of the beacons of Beaujolais quality…” David Schildknecht, Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate
“Few Beaujolais growers are in a position to pronounce on the region’s different terroirs with the authority of the affable Pierre Chermette…” Andrew Jefford, The New France
Owners Pierre-Marie and Martine Chermette of Domaine du Vissoux were the first to embrace sustainable agricultural practices in Beaujolais. Cru beaujolais is a remarkable medium bodied red made from the Gamay grape, fragrant and juicy with succulence, depth and savoury length. Vissoux is the top rated Beaujolais producer in leading french guide, “Les Meilleurs Vins de France”.
Les Griottes means ‘the small cherries’ in reference to the grove of cherry trees that flank the vineyard. Vissoux’s entry cuvée is drawn from 20 to 40-year-old vines grown on dark, granite soils around the Chermette homestead in Saint-Vérand (central Beaujolais). The winemaking here has remained unchanged during Pierre-Marie Chermette’s tenure, with traditional whole bunch, semi-carbonic ferment in concrete tanks and then maturation in tank and ancient oak casks. The difference with this wine, in comparison to the other wines made this way, is a shorter maceration (four or so days) and less time in vats. The aim here is to produce something light-bodied and cherry-fruited with reach-for-another-glass deliciousness–something the juicy-crunchy, overachieving 2018 nails with ease. It’s a buoyant and textural red that goes down dangerously easily.
Details
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Wine Type
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Aroma
- Mineral
- Plum
- Red Cherry
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Palate
- Gamey
- Red Cherry
- Red Fruits
Food Pairings
- Game
- Pork
- Poultry
Critic Scores & reviews
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The Wine Advocate
88"The 2018 Beaujolais Griotte reveals a lovely bouquet of cherries, blackberries and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy, fruit-driven palate framed by melting tannins. It’s a gourmand, succulent and keenly priced red that’s already drinking well."
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Locations
France
Wine is being produced throughout France and has been done for over 2,500 years with certain Châteaux dating their history back to Roman times, around 6th Century BC. Ranking second in the world in per-capita consumption and first in total production quantity. More so than the overall quantity of wine is the quantity of truly great wines coming out of France makes the nation the envy of wine-making nations worldwide.
Two concepts pivotal to the higher end French wines, in particular, are the idea of 'terroir' and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Terroir refers to the way the geography, geology and climate find their way into the glass, telling a story of the origin of the wine. The AOC was set up in 1935 and has the primary goal of protecting the authenticity of the wines and the livelihoods of the producers. Appellation rules strictly define which varieties of grapes and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or in some cases, like in Burgundy even specific vineyards.
Classic wine regions in France include Champagne (home of Champagne), Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot), Alsace (Aromatic varietals), Loire Valley (Chenin Blanc, Crémant) and the Rhône Valley (Syrah, Grenache Mourvedre)
The Bordeaux classification of 1855 is still in use, as is the Sauternes and Barsac Classification of the same year. Wines from certain regions can be bought En Primeur, which is when the wine is sold prior to it being bottled.
Beaujolais
Located just south of Burgundy, the French wine region of Beaujolais covers an impressive area of 22,000 hectares between Mâcon and Lyon. Although this wine region was famous for being associated with dull, diluted wine in the past, its reputation has since only improved, proving their worth to wine lovers all over the world with their endless variety of wines, ranging from fresh and light to refined and lush wines. 98 percent of the vineyards here are made up of the famous Gamay grapes, with the exception of a small amount of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which are used to make white wines. Gamay grapes are known to make luscious red wines that have a light to medium body, moderate tannin, relatively low acidity and contain aromas of berries such as raspberry, tart cherry and cranberry. The region of Beaujolais is home to ten named village Crus: St Amour, Juliénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié (a Cru since 1988), Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly. When compared to most other Beaujolais wines, the Crus of this region are more concentrated and have much more character and can be kept for up to ten years.
Beaujolais is blessed with a temperate climate and shares its summer weather with the Mediterranean Sea due to its close proximity, but the location is also interior enough to experience cold dry weather from the Northeast. The soil of Beaujolais is an important component in defining the different styles of wines in the region. Towards the south of the town of Villefrance, the soil is made up of sandstone or clay and limestone. In the north, the soils are comprised of granite or crystalline rock on the upper slopes, and in the lower slopes they are made up of stone and clay soils.