I tasted through a few of the Dutraive wines, all labeled at 14.5%
2015 Domaine de la Grand’Cour Fleurie Chapelle des Bois - med dark ruby violet, fairly rich and lush, nice acidity, definitely warmer year but not heavy, very gluggable.
2015 Domaine de la Grand’Cour Fleurie Clos de la Grand’Cour - shows the warmth but stays classy and elegant, nice medium flavor, good balance.
2015 Domaine de la Grand’Cour Brouilly Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - beautiful medium darker color, quite rich, nice medium darker flavors, great acidity.
Overall, the wines were pretty clearly “warmer year”, shorter term wines for sure, but quite enjoyable nevertheless.
Robert I think Coquelet is excellent. I haven’t had '15, in fact it’s been a few years, but I found remarkable purity in the wines I’ve tried. There were some intense brett issues with IIRC some '09s but the less affected bottles were killer. I hear good things about Sunier but have never pulled the trigger. Too many great producers to follow them all.
Well, based upon a sample size of two, the 2015 vintage is much like the 2009. The 2015 Nicole Chanrion Cote-de-Brouilly pours out dark, just like the Thivin. However, I find that the vintage plays better into Chanrion’s more rustic, masculine style. What a nose! The strawberry/floral perfume gets up into the nasal passages in a hurry. On the palate, there are oodles of rich, brambly, dark strawberry/cranberry fruit tossed with some bright pine needle action. I find more delineation, freshness and clarity here than with the Thivin, but make no mistake about it, this is full-on, in-your-face Gamay goodness. The 2014 version of this wine is really good but, now, it is for sissies.
by far the best 2015 i have tasted so far is the julie balagny moulin-a-vent. it is her first vintage producing this cru after acquiring a small parcel. truly a spectactular wine that transcends the vintage. incredibly pure and transparent with bright fruit. fantastic acidity to accompany the wonderful structure and fine tannins. very burgundian in style and built for the cellar. hugely perfumed nose. zero brett. label says 14% but drinks much lower, no heat on the finish. the lapierre drinks like much higher abv than this and is certainly far overripe.
Bottle number 2. Digging this even more. Really intense fruit for a Beaujolais. AFWE ban me now, I’m hooked. One of the more intense, powerful Beaujolais I recall having in recent memory, but cut with some bracing acidity. A sexy wine. Not every wine needs to be a “thinker”.
Tasted the 2015 Julien Sunier Fleurie and Morgon, both pop and pour. The Fleurie was very aromatic bright, and crunchy, medium/full-bodied. Pretty tasty now.
The Morgon was fairly closed in comparison aromatically, darker, meaty with some iron-like nuances. Almost tasted like a Crozes Hermitage. Needs time.
I’m 0/2 on 2015 beaujolais so far. I tried it in the summer, but the 2015 Clos de la Roilette base bottling was really ripe and lacked acidity or anything really interesting to me.
More recently, last night, I opened up the 2015 Dutraive Fleurie Grand Cour VV. Nose was quite nice, tart red fruit, some perfume and earth which I love in my beaujolais. But on the palate, it lacked the freshness that I seek, and worse, I felt like i was drinking wood. Hopefully the oak will integrate over time, but compared to the 2014 at this time, it’s just not close (for my tastes).
I’m beginning to wonder if this vintage is a total write off for me based on what I’m reading here and the few that I’ve tasted. I might just have to buy 2014s, especially the Tardive and Griffe.
Just finished a bottle of Julien Sunier Morgon ‘15 over three days. (disclaimer, I import his wines)
The first day, it was quite tight and imploded, not givng a lot but hints of violets, moderately dark fruits, very fine in texture, but no easy fat or sucrosité. Followed with a meal over a few hours, and its sense of being compact and dense was the dominant impression, unfolding slowly, but complimenting an array of Mexican dishes quite well.
Day two was WOW different. The florals were beeeautiful both aromatically and in the mouth, like violet pastille. The fruit was also shining more, more dark red fruited than black, very pure and clean. This was downright incredible on day two to my taste.
Day three was like day two, but not as focused (only a third of a bottle, saw more oxygen…) and fresh vibrant. The florals and fruit intensity/purity were still hummin’.
I think Gilman’s review is pretty spot on.
This is a packed puppy that will age for a very long time.
It betrays not a sense of solar dominance. Very compact amount of material…
Although I normally steer away from these since I’m far from a Gamay fan, the 2015 Clos de la Roilette was served as part of a pairing with a tasting menu evening yesterday. It had bright red fruit at first and a small earthy undercomponent and while I didn’t find anything remarkable yesterday, I do believe this is a wine that will show more complexity after some years of aging. My bottle didn’t seem to have the overt ripeness you found, Daniel, but I don’t know how long it had been oxygenated for.
I opened a 2015 Chanrion Cote de Brouilly last night and was surprised at how large-scaled a wine it was. The nose was mouthwatering and it had a lot of stuffing on the palate. The fruit showed a nice cool, but masculine personality, there was just a ton of it. We’ll go back to it tonight and see if it gets leaner after being opened for a day.
This 2015 Chanrion is pretty killer! A much larger-scale wine than 2014 or some earlier years, even hitting 13.5%, but wow does it carry it well. Yes, the more masculine, rustic side to Chanrion really balances out the ripeness of the red fruit spectrum.
You sent me, however, the “Voute des Crozes” bottling. I thought I had ordered the basic CdB, which is the only wine of Chanrion that I have had. I’m guessing this is a higher-end cuvee, so thanks! What’s the back-story on this bottling? It is seriously good!
Robert, I believe that Nicole Chanrion makes just a single cuvee of her Beaujolais Cote de Brouilly. However, her domaine is known as De la Voute des Crozes. Pleased to know that you liked the wine.