Fleurie "Cuvée Tardive"

France
Beaujolais
2023

100% Gamay. From the oldest estate vines, which are 80 years old and up, on heavy clay soils with relatively little granite and quite a lot of the iron-like mineral manganese. "Tardive" does not mean that the harvest is late but rather is a reference to the wine's ability and need to age for years. The farming is sustainable. All vineyard work is by hand, with the soils worked only superficially, at most twice per year, to protect the roots of these old vines. Vinification is traditional, semi-carbonic Beaujolais style. The whole clusters are harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in open-top concrete tank. Maceration lasts around 18 days for Tardive, with a submerged cap rather than punchdowns. The wine is aged in large oak foudres of 80 to 100 years old for 9 months before bottling. Sulfur use is quite minimal.

93+ points
"The 2023 Cuvée Tardive from Alain Coudert is an excellent wine in the making, albeit a touch riper than in many vintages, as it tips the scales at a full fourteen percent in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, sappy and still youthfully primary, offering up scents of black cherries, dark berries, fresh thyme, woodsmoke, pigeon, dark soil tones and a topnote of peonies. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and deep to the core, with good soil signature, ripe tannins and fine balance on the long, poised and promising young finish. This will need some extended cellaring as well before it starts to drink with generosity, but it will be lovely once it is ready to drink. 2030-2060+. "
John Gilman,
View From The Cellar
May 2025

SKU/Code: 
DB0008-23
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Gamay
Farming Type: 
Sustainable