Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie "Les Garants" 2022

2021 Fleurie Les Garants is excellent on the nose, wafting from the glass in a youthful blend of black plums, dark berries, espresso, a dollop of fresh thyme, gamebird, a superb base of dark soil tones, woodsmoke and a touch of oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and gently sappy in the rock solid core, with superb mineral drive, fine-grained tannins, tangy acids and impeccable balance on the long, focused and complex finish. This is a bit more structured than the Poncié out of the blocks, so will need a bit more cellaring before it starts to drink with generosity, but it should be even a hair better once it is fully mature. Just a lovely wine.

The area called Les Garants is one of the Fleurie appellation area’s most noble granitic terroirs. Very well-sited (South-West facing) and harvested at full ripeness, the grapes from these vines give a concentrated cuvée. The result, in the mouth, is dense and long, foretelling of really good cellaring potential. The fruit is intense, lively and “sappy.” A cuvée worthy of being called “Queen of Beaujolais.”

This cuvée should reconcile anybody who’s ever been disappointed with Beaujolais. It shows that there are truly great terroirs within the Crus, like that of Les Garants which used, in fact, to be part of the Moulin à Vent AOC area. This is a really complete Fleurie, which combines finesse and elegance with concentration and depth. It is very enjoyable in the fruit of its youth but holds back a few surprises to unveil after a few years cellaring.

Grape variety: Gamay 2.7 hectares of a south-west facing named area called Les Garants in Fleurie on pink granitic soil rich in mica and quartz. Integrated vinegrowing, goblet pruning, manual harvest at full ripeness Traditional vinification of Beaujolais: half-carbonic maceration with two pumping per day, maceration from 10 to 12 days in concrete vats, no chaptalization, minimum of SO2.