Type: Red

Vintage: 2019

Grape: Gamay Noir

Country: France

Appellation: Cote de Brouilly 

From a one-hectare parcel of old vines with northeast exposure, so late to ripen. The fruit was 80% destemmed and 20% whole cluster carbonic maceration, with 10 mg/liter of SO2 added only before bottling.

"The 2019 Cote de Brouilly from Jean-Claude Lapalu is outstanding on both the nose and palate, with the spiciness and sappy element to the fruit tones of 2019 very much in evidence. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a classy blend of red and black cherries, sweet cranberries, allspice, woodsmoke, gamebird and a fine base of minerality. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and quite open in personality for a young Cote de Brouilly, with a good core of fruit, fine soil signature, just a wisp of tannin and a long, vibrant and complex finish. This is a bit more open on the nose than the palate, so I would give it a year or two in the cellar for the palate to catch up. Fine juice. 2021-2040+." 92 pts, John Gilman