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2017 Régnié
Guy BretonAt first, a dollop of supple, juicy fruit evokes the sandy layer of topsoil into which these Gamay vines—many of them a century old—sink their roots. Then a granite kick, full of gritty spice, clutches the palate with gusto, conjuring the stony bedrock beneath. After all, the vineyards of Régnié sit high on a slope between Brouilly and Morgon, so you can expect the perfume and brightness of the former along with a hint of the mineral-driven structure typical of the latter. And let us not forget the house style—Breton’s wines are designed to be drunk with reckless abandon, and this is no exception.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Régnié |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Guy Breton |
Winemaker: | Guy Breton |
Vineyard: | 50% 100 years, 50% 35 years, 1 ha |
Soil: | Granite, Sand |
Aging: | Wines are aged on fine lees in Burgundian barrels |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Guy Breton
About The Region
Beaujolais
After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.
The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.
Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.
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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.