Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvee Tardive 2023 1.5L
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
“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+.” - 93+ PTS, JOHN GILMAN, VIEW FROM THE CELLAR (05.2025)
“Crafted from 60- to 80-year-old vines, the 2023 Fleurie Cuvée Tardive bursts with bold aromas of cherries, blackberries, licorice and purple petals. Full-bodied and plush, it delivers a more cushioned and luxurious version than the Fleurie cuvée, with tannins finely integrated into the flesh, adding just the right amount of resistance to impart finesse. Its dark-fruited tones evolve to unveil layers of umami, leather and crushed stone, promising even further development in the years to come. With that said, this is a beautifully crafted wine, exemplifying remarkable harmony. As always, it is recommended to age this wine as long as you can keep your hands off of it.” - 93 PTS, WINE ADVOCATE (03/3035)
IMPORTER NOTES:
PRODUCTION: "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."
ABOUT THE PRODUCER: "The Clos de la Roilette, a lieu-dit in the village of Fleurie, covers nine hectares of one of the best slopes in the Beaujolais Crus. The clos has an eastern exposure, borders the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, and produces wines that are beautiful when young and have the capacity to age 5-10 years, depending on the vintage. In the 1920’s, when the Fleurie appellation was first created, the former landowner was infuriated with losing the Moulin-à-Vent appellation under which the clos had previously been classified. He created a label, using a photograph of his racehorse Roilette, and used the name Clos de la Roilette without mentioning Fleurie. The owner vowed not to sell a drop of his wine on the French market and the production went to Switzerland, Germany and England. By the mid-1960s, the owner’s heirs had lost interest in the clos and a large portion of the land had gone wild and untended. In 1967, Fernand Coudert bought this poorly maintained estate and replanted the vineyards. His son Alain joined him in 1984, and has been the winemaker since. He has recently been joined by his son Alexis."