Domaine Gérard Boulay Sancerre Clos Beaujeu 2022 (6 Bottles) Sancerre, France
$797.00 GST Included
AUSTRALIA WIDE SHIPPING INCLUDED
Le Clos de Beaujeu is one of Boulay’s ‘blue-blood’ historic sites. Boulay farms two parcels in this terroir, including one within the original clos of this vineyard, established by the monks of Beaujeu in the Middle Ages. This parcel is historically known as Le Grand Clos.
For this reason, Boulay names this wine Clos de Beaujeu rather than the more ubiquitous Cul de Beaujeu. In his book Le Vignoble de Chavignol, Thibaut Boulay notes that this vineyard first appears in documents dating to 1328 as the Clausus de Bellojoco, indicating this terroir’s age-old origins.
Vines on this slope of Kimmeridgian limestone and clay (terre blanches) sit between 30 and (a remarkable) 110 years old. The soils here are particularly rocky—limestone-rich and strewn with fossils—making this parcel difficult to farm. A second, even steeper parcel at a 60% gradient lies closer to the village.
These southeast-facing plots make the Clos de Beaujeu the source of some of the domaine’s most structured and nervy wines. This cuvée ferments spontaneously and rests in large, upright cask (60%) and three- and four-year-old 300-litre barrels (40%) for 10 months.
The 2022 season has yielded a special Clos Beaujeu that promises to age for decades. Right now, there is a racy, floral and mineral attack underscored by citrus oil, while the palate is long and seamless, wreathed in sea spray and Mirabelle plum favour with a savoury edge. Closes with exceptional focus and grip on the long and still quite reserved finish. Fabulous.
This is emphatically built for the cellar and needs bottle age to allow its secondary layers of complexity to emerge. Still, it is so well-balanced that those curious can certainly drink it in its youth with great pleasure. But try to tuck it away in the cellar for at least a few years.
Description
About Gérard Boulay
“To my palate, Gérard Boulay is undoubtedly on the top tier of producers in Chavignol. His wines have a vibrant purity, evident ripeness, feel devoid of any raw varietal character and reflect the soils from which they are born. Indeed, in terms of purity and daringly racy, I do wonder whether he shouldn’t be placed at the very top of the tier. I certainly find his wines sufficiently exciting, breath-taking in their assured poise, to suggest this might be the case” Chris Kissack, winedoctor.com
“The Boulay style is a world away from the regular refreshing but forgettable norm… [it] should really be compared with a white burgundy in terms of its rewards and complexity” Jancis Robinson MW
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