Guy Breton Chiroubles "Cuvée Léa" 2023

This cru is blessed with high altitude, steep, decomposed granite slopes and a lot of old vines that are very difficult to work. If you are willing to put in the elbow grease -- which fewer and fewer seem prepared to do -- the results can be mesmerizing. The crunchy, lip-smacking berry fruit of this beauty are simply delicious, as all proper Beaujolais should be, and there is intellectual interest to boot.

Guy Breton is a legendary natural winemaker from Beaujolais, one of the founding fathers of the whole natural wine movement and instrumental in increasing the quality of Beaujolais overall. Guy took over from his grandfather in 1986, which had until then been selling fruit to a large cooperative. Breton wanted to revitalize the reputation of Beaujolais, focusing on using native yeasts, minimal intervention in the cellar, no herbicides or pesticides in the vineyard, and really letting the terroir speak for itself. One of Kermit Lynch’s "Gang of 4" producers, Breton typically produced the lightest-bodied and most finesse-driven wines of the four.

Sourced from the Javernand lieu-dit. Named “Cuvée Léa” after his granddaughter.