Jean-Louis Dutraive - Grand Cour

Photography and writing by Ted Vance.

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This extremely humble and hard-working vigneron has unintentionally become (for me) an iconoclastic vigneron within Beaujolais. He has found his own unique style of winemaking and has pushed his wines to a place that knows no equal. He has abandoned conventional farming in favor of organic many years ago and has become at one with his vines and his wines. He has come to realize and practice that with near perfect work in the vineyard of a great terroir, one must observe more and react less.

Fleurie is perhaps one of Beaujolais’ most elegant appellations. It, like the other crus of Beaujolais, is scrunched up in the north half of Beaujolais and are dominated by more the more complex soils: schist and granite. At Jean-Louis’ Fleurie vines, the soil is granite; the exception being the Brouilly, which is on limestone. The vineyards in Fleurie are spread out with quite a different elevation between 250-500 meters. The vines of Dutraive are just a short walk from the town center, which sits around 300 meters.

The climate of Beaujolais is semi-continental and is warmer than the rest of Burgundy. In fact, it is one of the warmest places in France during the summer months. Thankfully, they are the eastern foothills of the Massif Central which helps the vineyards cool down at night following hot days.

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Jean-Louis Dutraive - Grand Cour - 2023 Brouilly, Cuvee Vieilles Vignes

Price: $51.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

24+ in stock

Type of Wine: Red
Grape(s): 100% Gamay
Style: Mineral, Elegant and Aromatic
SKU: DVBVV23 Category: Tags: , , , Click to see what states we ship to
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GROWER OVERVIEW

It’s never too late for a renaissance. Nearing 60, the extremely humble and hard-working vigneron, Jean-Louis Dutraive unintentionally became one of Beaujolais’ iconoclastic vignerons. Between 2010-2016 (perhaps some years prior to those as well), Jean-Louis found his own uniquely elegant style that inspired an entire generation of local growers and extended well beyond Beaujolais and France into the global wine scene. Perhaps one of Beaujolais’ most elegant appellations, Fleurie is dominated by granite soils with a broad variation of altitudes and expositions. Jean-Louis’ Fleurie vines are on softer slopes at lower altitudes with deeper sandy soils than those at higher altitudes, which make for more elegant and aromatic wines. Jean-Louis’ Brouilly is a unique wine grown on limestone, which imparts more power, color and weight when compared to his range of Fleurie wines. All vineyards are farmed naturally with EU organic certification and most of the wines are bottled with little to no added sulfites. Jean-Louis’ offspring (Ophélie, Justin and Lucas) began to take greater stylistic control of the domaine in 2017, led by his daughter, Ophélie.

VINEYARD DETAILS

Located in Jean-Louis’ familial domaine on the eastern end of Brouilly, this unique vineyard is composed of limestone and clay (uncommon in the appellation, where most vines are planted on granite). The vineyard was planted between 1923 and 1973 at altitudes of 250-350 meters, with a south-facing exposure on a gentle slope.

CELLAR NOTES

100% whole cluster, semi-carbonic, natural fermentation and maceration for 2-3 weeks and the wine aged in 50% in steel and 50% in old 225 L French oak for 7 months. 10ppm (10mg/L) total added sulfites only at bottling, no fining nor filtration.

About The Wine

Inside the bottle: This is the sleeper in the range and with some patience this wine gives more than would be expected upon the first 10 minutes of tasting. It is the most mineral-intese wine in the range, expressing deep graphite, blood and iron notes in the palate. Ancient vines endow this wine with tremendous follow-through and sappy weight in the mid and back palate. Dried purple flowers and red rose decorate the nose alongside of scorched earth and sauvage. This wine, like the “Clos de la Grand Coeur” bottling, offers a very savory range of characters and is also given only a small dose of 10 parts per million of SO2 one month before bottling.

All of Jean-Louis’ wines are made with whole clusters, zero extraction and natural fermentations. They are made from a combination of nearly perfect farming and zen-like observation. The elevage of this wine is 60% in stainless steel and 40% in futs de chene (barrel.)

Terroir: This old family parcel, located close to the house that Jean-Louis grew up in, is the outlier in the range of wines and would also be considered the same within the appellation of Brouilly. Brouilly is famous for its volcanic and metamorphic decomposed rock but Jean-Louis’ parcel is completely different as it rests on limestone and clay, which give it extra umph. This south facing vineyard has vines with at least 50 years of age but most are well beyond 100 years old.

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