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Beaujolais : 15 vins rouges d'exception qu'il faut avoir goûté
Par Geoffrey Avé   Publié le 25/03/2024 

Nos deux cuvées La Chapelle 2021 et Zaccharie 201 parmis les 15 vins rouges d'exception!

Our Wine Choice selection this week is actually two versions of one wine from the same producer, Château Thivin in Beaujolais. In the United States, the wine bears the name of the renowned importer Kermit Lynch, and in all other markets it is called Les Sept Vignes. In both cases it is a cuvee of wines from all seven sections of the south-, east- and west-facing sides of Mount Brouilly, where Chateau Thivin has vineyards. They are currently under conversion to organic viticulture.

Both wines are wonderful expressions of modern Beaujolais, at once joyful and deep, with stacks of berry fruit and excellent structure. More time in the bottle will result in their smoky and spicy complexity expanding. How could you not like them? Both drink well now, but the unfiltered version from Kermit Lynch needs some aeration to give its best at this early stage, and it should keep a bit longer than Les Sept Vignes. However, both will easily hold for a further decade, if not two or three. This is the nature of well-made reds from the gamay grape when grown on a top terroir like this.
Formed 380 million years ago, Mount Brouilly is a mass of volcanic diorite, the rock that the winemakers of Beaujolais call pierre bleue due to its blue-gray color. The well-rounded peak on Mount Brouilly is almost 500 meters above sea level and all the vineyards of the Cote-de-Brouilly appellation are more or less steep. You don’t need to be an expert to see that this is a special place for wine. It is a spectacular feature of the landscape.

Although part of the Chateau Thivin building dates back to 1383, it took full form in 1877, when Zaccharie and Marguerite Geoffray bought the property. Today, Claude-Edouard and Sonja Geoffray run it and make the wines. There’s nothing flashy about what they do, rather it’s all about achieving great consistency of quality through attention to detail.

This pair of wines were both matured in large, old wooden casks of 2,000 to 4,000 liter capacity for at least half a year after fermentation. Gamay doesn’t need more oak than this, although top wines from the region can handle a bit of new oak, as this producer’s Cuvée Zaccharie proves. However, for drinking young I prefer the forthright fruit of this pair of wines. And 2022 is an excellent vintage!

– Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor

CHÂTEAU THIVIN, CUVÉE LES SEPT VIGNES 2021, CÔTE DE BROUILLY, FRANCE
35,50 $ - Code SAQ 14730864 – 13 %

Non seulement c’est le genre de bibine que Karl aurait aimé, mais c’est une manière de souligner que le Beaujolais nouveau, et bien, ça se passait jeudi dernier (16 novembre). Comme vous, je n’ai pas vu l’ombre d’une bouteille de beaujo nouveau à la SAQ, mais ce n’est pas une raison pour bouder notre plaisir ! Château Thivin fait partie des grands classiques (décidément, un thème récurrent dans cette chronique) de l’appellation. Il a le charme immédiat d’un morgon de Lapierre tout en montrant un côté plus strict en bouche, ce qui s’explique probablement par le millésime (mais sans avoir le côté herbacé que plusieurs vins du Beaujolais peuvent avoir). Bonne densité de fruité, impression aérienne, avec de la longueur et de la complexité. Il se laisse boire comme du petit-lait. Un régal !

★★★ 1⁄2 $$$

"Fresh from last year’s vintage, Château Thivin 2020 Côte de Brouilly is a beautiful example of the best of Beaujolais, organically grown on Côte de Brouilly’s typical blue volcanic granite soil that lends its deep minerally characteristic to this bright garnet wine’s fresh strawberry, cranberry, anise, and violets. ..."

"...I can’t resist recalling my favorite wine of the year, though, the recently reported Château Thivin 2020 Côte de Brouilly ($29.99)
Château Thivin 2020 Côte de Brouilly is a beautiful example of the best of Beaujolais, organically grown on Brouilly’s typical blue volcanic granite soil that lends its deep minerally characteristic to this bright garnet wine’s fresh strawberry, cranberry, anise, and violets...."

"...Côte de Brouilly is my favorite Beaujolais village and ranks among my (many) favorite wines. Today’s featured wine, a just-out 2020 vintage from the always reliable importer Kermit Lynch, is one of the best Beaujolais I’ve ever tasted. With the self-confidence of the Crus, it bears only its own village name. There’s neither “Beaujolais” nor “Burgundy,” on the label.

This wine, Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly, a beautiful, drinkable feast of strawberries, cranberries, anise, violets, and haunting hints of stony minerality, is highly recommended. If the holiday spirit prompts you to look for a $30 wine that tastes like you spent quite a bit more, this is a good choice for you...."

Château Thivin, ovvero la finezza
di ANGELO PERETTI

"......It's a Tennessee Williams play trapped under cork." 

 Seth Eli Barlow about our Côte de Brouilly KL 2019

Some great tasting notes for our cuvées of the élégant vintage 2019 and an excellent article about the Beaujolais as a "maturing wine region"

Thanks to James Suckling and his team for their remarkable job

"...For us this diversity is the sure sign of a maturing wine region and it was also clearly present in the eight wines wines that rated 96 points. For example, the incredibly floral expressiveness of the Château Thivin Côte-de-Brouilly Cuvée Zaccharie 2019 and the densely structured Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py 2019 are both great reds unlike anything else on Planet Wine." by Stuart Pigott

Découvrez les poétiques commentaires de cette dégustation verticale et vertigineuse sur le nouveau  site internet dédié au monde du vin de
Guillaume Baroin   www.lesbuvologues.com