Alcohol: 13%
Grape(s): Gamay
Localization: Burgundy, France
Tasting Notes: The wines of Jean-Louis Dutraive are some of the most unique aromatically and texturally in all of Beaujolais. As exemplified here, they display an almost exotic floral and spicy aroma overlayed over lush minerally Gamay fruit, and there is also a textural lushness and exuberance backed up by ample structure and acid. These are substantial Beaujolais that have the requisite material to develop and evolve over the medium term, i.e. 10-12 years of aging, easily.
Dutraive himself calls this his ‘vin de soif’-- gulpable, thirst-quenching, and downright delicious!
Notes: Fruit for ‘Chapelle des Bois’ is vinified with native yeasts via semi-carbonic maceration, followed by nine months of aging in foudre.
The Domain: Winemaker Jean-Louis Dutraive is a 5th generation vigneron focusing on small parcels of Gamay grown with integrity and produced with minimal intervention. All the wines undergo carbonic maceration for the fermentation and a mixture of different size barrels and cement casks are used for the elevage. Finished wines are unrefined and unfiltered before bottling. At nearly 60 years old, Jean-Louis Dutraive has long held the respect of local farmers from his region but has recently turned into a rather dark horse favorite among global wine geeks. His motto in the cellar is "minimal and maximum surveillance."
Buy 6 bottles of regularly priced (not on sale) wines and receive 5% off.
Buy 12 and receive 10% off.
Email sale wines do not combine nor count towards the above discount.
We would consider all wine to be "Natural". The term "Natural Wine" has the connotation of lacking a touch with nature. The winegrowers we champion are those who are farmers first. They seek to capture the uniqueness of the site (terroir) in the purest way possible. The product is as pure as possible and without wine-making flaws (brettanomyces, mercaptans, volatile acidity, etc.
Raw, in this case, we define as realistic and not manipulated. The winemakers use the least amount of intervention as possible. Wine should be made in the vineyard, not the cellar. The winemaker's job is to get the wine into the bottle in the purest form possible. There are additives that go into making wine, some are essential and some are not. Wines in this category do not have extra additives. They are free of added sulfur, or have the most minimal amounts possible in order to provide shelf stability for the consumer to experience the wine as the winemaker intended it to be.
