Domaine du Vissoux Origine Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes 2019

"Bursting with aromas of cherries, blackberries and peonies, the 2019 Beaujolais Origine Vieilles Vignes is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with a sweet core of ripe but crunchy fruit and powdery structuring tannins. Gourmand and charming, this has turned out very well." 91 points. William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

We’re in France again, in fact, a short drive north of last week’s Syrah,, through the gourmand town of Lyon, and up to the famous hilltop crus of Beaujolais. The winemaker is Pierre-Marie Chermette from Domaine du Vissoux and he continues to produce some of the fullest, juiciest, pure and most salivating French reds of incredible value.

Domaine du Vissoux is a multi-generational farm and winery, with roots back to the 1700’s. Pierre-Marie Chermette took the reins of the family domaine in 1982 and has taken the quality into the future, whilst referencing his family and the regions history. This is highlighted in this wine, which Pierre-Marie launched in 1986 as Cuvee Traditionale, more recently changing the name to Origine. The reference to history is to produce a delicious, early drinking Beaujolais that was the antithesis of the low quality large production, co-operative Nouveau’s that were flooding the global market. Pierre-Marie did this through honest winemaking (no additions), natural ferments and full bodied versions of Beaujolais, introducing a level of seriousness to a fresh, early drinking style.  

The gamay fruit is from estate grown and sustainably farmed vineyards in Saint Verand, a town in the southern half of Beaujolais. Beaujolais as a broader region, is wedged between Burgundy (the home of Pinot Noir) to the north and the Rhone (the home of Syrah) to the south, with the best wines offering both Pinot and Shiraz drinkers plenty. Pierre-Marie prides himself on growing and harvesting wines at full maturity, meaning they deliver impressive power and flavour for wines that are classically medium bodied. The aromas are wild red fruits, red florals and white pepper. Flavours are red cherries, blackberries, pepper and Indian spices. The palate is finessed, grippy, long and clean.

The winery is largely under-rated here in Australia, but widely respected globally. It consistently produces some of the purest and best quality gamay’s of France. We recommend keeping them on hand and drinking over the next two years, enjoying with charcuterie, Lyonnaise sausage, veal or semi-hard French cheeses.

Cheers,

Tom and Dan