Chateau Fuisse Julienas 2020
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A 15th Century tower flanks Chateau Fuisse, a family home whose history is evidenced by a number of 300 year old artifacts and adornment. The estate of Chateau Fuisse includes vines exceeding 60 years of age that are vinified and bottled separately as Vieilles Vignes -a remarkably powerful, intense Chardonnay with aging capability of up to 15 years or more in bottle. The "normal" Chateau Fuisse is also a selection from older vines at least 25 years of age, and as a rule is focused and concentrated, rich yet very firmly held together. From the estate, three further bottlings come from individual plots or climates: Le Clos, a profound, powerful Chardonnay from the dense clay enclosure behind the chateau; Les Combettes, a superbly aromatic wine of great finesse from a very stony calcareous clay slope; and Les Brules, a south facing slope "burnt" by the sun. All the wines bearing the chateau label are barrel fermented in various oaks. The current owner and winemaker is Jean-Jacques Vincent, great-grandson of the founder, now assisted by his daughter Benedicte. A professor of enology, Jean-Jacques is as alert to modern innovations as he is loyal to proven traditional methods.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The bucolic region often identified as the southern part of Burgundy, Beaujolais actually doesn’t have a whole lot in common with the rest of the region in terms of climate, soil types and grape varieties. Beaujolais achieves its own identity with variations on style of one grape, Gamay.
Gamay was actually grown throughout all of Burgundy until 1395 when the Duke of Burgundy banished it south, making room for Pinot Noir to inhabit all of the “superior” hillsides of Burgundy proper. This was good news for Gamay as it produces a much better wine in the granitic soils of Beaujolais, compared with the limestone escarpments of the Côte d’Or.
Four styles of Beaujolais wines exist. The simplest, and one that has regrettably given the region a subpar reputation, is Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the Beaujolais wine that is made using carbonic maceration (a quick fermentation that results in sweet aromas) and is released on the third Thursday of November in the same year as harvest. It's meant to drink young and is flirty, fruity and fun. The rest of Beaujolais is where the serious wines are found. Aside from the wines simply labelled, Beaujolais, there are the Beaujolais-Villages wines, which must come from the hilly northern part of the region, and offer reasonable values with some gems among them. The superior sections are the cru vineyards coming from ten distinct communes: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Any cru Beajolais will have its commune name prominent on the label.