We love this map of French wine regions, depicted as a subway map. It allows you to situate the regions in ways that may be surprising.
On one line, for example, you can ride the subway just one stop from Pouilly Fuisse to Cru Beaujolais! And that seems to be what the Chateau de Fuisse has done. In 2010, after about 400 years of making Chardonnay in one of Burgundyโs most famous white wine village, they made the leap โ a rather small leap, as the map shows โ into growing Gamay in the village of Julienas, just (very slightly) to the south.
Julienas is a very fine Cru. Itโs one of the highest altitude Crus, but its steep slopes point due south, ensuring adequate sunshine to ripen vines. These vines tend to produce a fleshier wine that is redolent of cherries and peaches.
Like many of the other Burgundians now making wine here โ refugees from the incredibly high prices in their own backyards โ the Chateau de Fuisse does an excellent job with this terroir. They have the resources to work carefully and by hand. They combine Beaujolais and Burgundian tradition. So, for example, the wines are aged partially in tank and partly in barrel.
The overall effect hits lots of chords: the effusive Beaujolais fruit, the subtle mineral undercurrents, and the complexity that rapidly develops with just a little time in the bottle. And happily, we happen to have a back vintage of this wine for you to try. The 2023 has already been released; we have the 2020! All it takes with Cru Beaujolais is just a little extra cellaring, and we really like where this Julienas has ended up.
