2021 Famille Dutraive Beaujolais-Villages Lantignie

Domaine de la Grand’Cour is one of the oldest domaines in Fleurie and carries a tradition for producing some of the most renowned wines of this cru. Back in 1969 Jean Dutraive purchased the commune-like buildings and surrounding vineyards of the domaine. He was then joined by his son Jean-Louis Dutraive, a fifth generation Beaujolais winemaker in 1977. Today the wines are quintessential Fleurie and among the finest of all Beaujolais.

The domaine now comprises 9.1 hectares in Fleurie - the lieux-dits of Grand’Cour, the 8-hectare walled Clos surrounding the house and cellar, Chapelle des Bois and Champagne; plus 1.6 hectares in Brouilly. Jean-Louis began farming organically in 2002 when he moved to live at the house inside the Clos and was certified organic in 2009. Only natural inputs are used. All work is carried out manually and harvesting is exclusively by hand to ensure on the best quality, whole bunches arrive in the winery. The soils across the vineyards are variations on the classic coarse granite sand and gravel, with some clay-limestone plots.

Famille Dutraive is a micro-negoce, created in 2017 after 2 consecutive years of devasting hail losses to Domaine de la Grand’Cour. To relieve the financial stress on the family Jean-Louis teamed up with his children Ophélie, Justin and Lucas. It has quickly evolved as a family project constant; an aside from the other more individual projects and domaines. The grapes were initially sourced from friends who shared their organic/biodynamic philosophies and practices across the Beaujolais crus as an emergency measure. Now vineyards are leased specifically for the Famille wines and the range has taken on a permanent structure ensuring outstanding quality.

This Beaujolais-Villages cuvée comes from two plots located in the town of Lantignié, and they are both in their first year of conversion to organic farming. The first plot is made up of young vines planted on sandy loam soil where the south-facing vines are at an altitude of 370m. The second plot is on a plateau culminating at an altitude of 490m, and the vines are around forty years old. Grapes were hand harvested and vinified together in concrete vats using carbonic maceration and indigenous yeast, before being aged in vats for 6 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered with very little or no sulphur.