Tasting Notes
This is the top cuvee from Pierre Cotton. It's a specific patch (Les Grilles) within his Cote de Brouilly vineyard that creates a more complex wine in his mind. He's not wrong either. Be sure to give the wine plenty of time to breath or a few years in the cellar to give it a chance to show you what it's all about. Depth of flavour and nicely ripe fruit with herbal and stone and dried timber characteristics building layers into this marvellous wine. The palate is long and serious, packed full, yet remains medium in body. I can't wait to see where this wines develops too in the future. - Chris L
An anomaly within an anomaly. Les Grillés is a tiny parcel of vines growing on a geological hybrid (pink granite of Brouilly amalgamated with the blue diorite of the Cote de Brouilly). Geological forces generated a unique and unnamed rock, locally known as La Corne Verte. There is just 2 ha of this terroir known to man, and Pierre farms 1.4 of them. It is directly south facing, in a very warm spot, hence the name 'Les Grillés " which means 'grilled " or 'charred". The wine at first seems to act like a Cote de Brouilly, all line, power and intensity, but has even more smokiness and depth, with a delightful moreish bitterness on the finish. This is a grand vin.
Pierre is now the 5 generation of winemakers in the Sanvers & Cotton families to take the reigns. The family run Domaine, and the family home, sit smack-bang, mid-slope, right in the middle of the hill side known as the Côte de Brouilly, the highest and most visually spectacular of all of the Beaujolais' crus.
Pierre has Brouilly in his veins, and he knows the trials and tribulations of working on this heroic hill-side, so steep it is scary to walk up, let alone work on the small bush vines scattered upon it. But Pierre did not rest on the previous generation; he left, explored, learned, working for winemakers all across France. During his travels, he confirmed his desire to pursue natural viticulture and make natural wines. He now has an incredibly exciting future ahead and a desire to make zero-entrant wines, but with lots of responsibility as he has now taken over the whole domaine since the 2016 vintage, all vinified naturally. We think he is a bit of a star in the making, and a great young bloke with a curious mind and courageous heart. Being an unassuming gentle giant, he has the head and the shoulders necessary to do big things. - Importer Note
| Product Type | Wine Red Gamay & Beaujolais |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Beaujolais |
| Sub Region | Cote de Brouilly |
| Winemaking Practices | Natural |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |