Mont Verrier, La Tonne, Fleurie 2020 (14%)

domaine-montverrier.com POA $ DB Wine Selection

Compared with the other nine Beaujolais crus, Fleurie is never ‘the most’ of anything – except, that is, of charm. The pretty name promises a beguiling scent. This heady combination is sometimes hard to live up to in practice… but not here. This wine is a dark, opaque black-red, and from the moment you dip your nose into the glass, you’ll find all of the flower-fruited lift you expect, allied to flavours that fill the mouth with bright cherry and plum. The wine’s weight is all fruit too, with tissue-soft tannins, and the cherries and plums continue to evoke blossom as much as juicy, spurting flesh on the palate. You might, though, find just a touch of granite stoniness on the finish. Drink as soon as possible, lightly chilled.

‘Gamay and Beaujolais are generally associated with light, fruity wines,’ says Mont Verrier’s owner Gérard Legrand. ‘But when the vintage allows it, and if you ensure that the oak does not overpower the fruit, a Beaujolais can have more structure and complex aromas.’

Tax lawyer by trade, Legrand discovered the rundown and up-for-sale Mont Verrier in 2007. ‘Taking it over was a combination of madness and wanting to return to my roots – I come from a family of Verdun farmers.’

He embarked on an ambitious overhaul of the estate, which dates to at least the 17th century. Focusing heavily on biodiversity and conservation, it is now home to an ampelographic collection of more than 200 grape varieties.

The climat of La Tonne sits at 455m on a steep hill that demands manual labour. The vines are 50 years old, dug into shallow pink granite, and the altitude gives cold, often windy nights, which lock in the acids.

‘We age the wine in used 400-litre barrels for at least 11 months to show that when the terroir is good, the grapes are ripe, and the grower carefully vinifies and ageing it, a Beaujolais cru can easily rival wine from Burgundy or Bordeaux.’