It sometimes seems like the highest praise one can give a non-Burgundy wine is to call it ‘Burgundian.’ This goes beyond comparing something to Pinot Noir (either structurally, or aromatically, or whatever). Above all, ‘Burgundian’ winemaking is steeped in a reverence for specific vineyard sites, and in trying to put whatever is special about a vineyard into the bottle.
This is what Julien Sunier and a legion of other young, energetic vintners are doing in the 10 “cru” villages of Beaujolais. Even though Beaujolais is actually part of Burgundy (albeit with Gamay, not Pinot, as its signature red grape), only recently have we begun to parse its cru vineyards – Fleurie, Morgon, etc. – with the kind of reflection and esteem once reserved for the Premier and Grand Cru vineyards up north in the Côte d’Or. Sunier’s 2015 Fleurie is not just Burgundian in actuality, but in spirit: it has the kind of “somewhereness” that transforms a wine from merely good to really great. If you know the great wines of Marcel Lapierre or Jean Foillard, this wine is in a similar thread of greatness, lauded by sommeliers and critics around the world.
With Beaujolais (which is undoubtedly having a moment right now) you get that sense of place without the prohibitive price tag. Cru Beaujolais is probably today’s most affordable way to engage in the discussion of what constitutes a ‘terroir-driven’ wine, and it didn’t used to be this way: ultra-fruity, super-cheap Beaujolais nouveau was the extent of the average drinker’s knowledge of the category. Now, some of the most buzzed-about producers in the world of wine are Beaujolais-makers: Lapierre; Dutraive; Foillard; Clos de la Roilette; and, yes, Sunier…this is the stuff lighting up the Instagram feeds of in-the-know sommeliers everywhere. Not least because they can actually afford to drink it!
After perhaps Moulin-a-Vent and Morgon, Fleurie is known not just for some of the most structured Beaujolais reds but for its concentration of big-name producers. Julien Sunier joined the fray officially in 2008, after acquiring a small stand of old vines that spilled across 3 cru villages—Fleurie, Morgon and Régnié. His source for this bottling, named “Niagara,” is a small, 2.4-hectare parcel of 40-year-old vines that grow out of Fleurie’s famous mother rock of granite. The site, framed by forests and meadows, forms a steep, magnificent amphitheater that demands manual viticulture and harvest. Sunier wouldn’t have it any other way – his vineyards have been farmed organically since the domaine’s inception.
Although he hails from the Burgundy area (Dijon), Sunier wasn’t from a wine family; his mom was a hairdresser who counted wine legend Christophe Roumier as a client. In his twenties, Sunier did the itinerant young winemaker thing, interning in California and New Zealand before landing back in Burgundy, where he worked with the likes of Nicolas Potel and Jean-Claude Rateau. He then worked for the large négociant firm Mommessin, where, among other things, he became intimately acquainted with the terroir of Beaujolais and the Gamay grape.
Today’s 2015 Fleurie is Gamay at its most fine, structured, and expressive. Whole grape clusters are fermented in cold, climate-controlled concrete vats with only indigenous yeast, which results in the exquisite purity of fruit Sunier is known for. Following alcoholic fermentation, the leftover clusters are manually removed, then the wine is racked, without a pump, into an antique wooden basket press. The wine ages on its lees for eleven months in used oak barrels (acquired from Roumier!), which allows the pure fruit flavors to develop complexity without the overpowering characteristics of new oak. The wine is racked from barrel and blended in tank one month prior to bottling where only incredibly low sulfur levels are used. The result is a pristine, and genuinely serious, Gamay.
Following in the footsteps of his terrific 2014 (which we offered here to great response), Sunier has struck again with his 2015: ruby-red (unlike many dark purple 2015’s), moving to a touch of garnet on the rim, its perfume goes way beyond grapey/fruity and takes us deep into the woods, a tangle of wild herbs, wild berries and wild flowers. Underpinning everything is a savory, stony minerality that speaks to the granitic soils of the region. It is silky, pure, medium-bodied, softly contoured (as Gamay always is), and yet gripping and energetic at the same time. Sunier himself uses the word “crunchy” to describe his wines, which might be the best description of all.
I support drinking this wine now – it would be a magnificent, super-versatile Thanksgiving wine provided you decant it about an hour before serving – but it will really be a knockout with about three to five years’ more age (yes, it’s Beaujolais, and yes, you should cellar some – this is a long way away from nouveau). It goes without saying, I hope, that Burgundy stems are in order. It’s Burgundy, after all, and a damn fine one! If you don’t serve this on your Thanksgiving table,
savoring it with Zuni’s Chicken is one of my favorite pairings ever which you will see my recommend often. There is a reason, preparation is necessary, but well worth the effort I promise.
