Father-son Côte-Rôtie masters Gilbert and Guillaume Clusel of Domaine Clusel-Roch farm just five hectares, so the precious few bottles they produce are highly coveted among collectors. From their tiny slice of world-famous northern Rhône terroir, they turn out nuanced, complex, long-aging Côte-Rôties, one of which we offered—and sold out in an instant. Now, imagine if their mastery of Syrah was applied to 40-year-old Gamay vines from a 1.5-hectare plot just 20 minutes north of Côte-Rôtie. Then you’d have today’s wine: Guillaume Clusel’s “Galet,” a fascinating old-vine Gamay from the Coteaux du Lyonnais AOC. 
It’s a delicious mashup, offering the structure and iron-shaving mineral profile of a great Côte-Rôtie coupled with the brambly, wild-berry fruit of Burgundian Gamay. Fourth-generation Guillaume soaked up all he could from his dad before branching out on his own, crafting today’s wine from a hillside strewn with large, rounded cobblestones, or galets, like the ones found down south in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. He began purchasing the organically farmed fruit; fermenting it with some whole clusters intact; and aging the wine in used French oak barriques. The result is a tangy, structured Gamay that drinks like a muscled-up Cru Beaujolais with a touch of Northern Rhône exoticism. But perhaps you expected that. More unexpected is the bargain price, of which only 800 cases were produced. Our allocation is a tiny fraction of that, of course, so grab what you can before the inevitable sellout!
Grapes for the 2018 “Galet” were harvested over three manual passes, then partially de-stemmed and gently crushed. Native yeast fermentation was slow and carefully monitored for gentle extractions of flavors and aromas, while punch-downs of the “cap” of grape skins occurred twice daily over four weeks. The wine then aged 12 months in neutral large oak casks. In the glass, bright garnet-red Gamay color fades to a gentle pink rim, showing its youth. The nose exudes a basket of fresh farmer’s market berries going from cherry and blackberry to boysenberry and red currant with cinnamon-chocolate-laced strawberries, before a wave of pink roses and purple, peppery violets. The flavors continue to expand on the palate, revealing more complex earth notes marrying Burgundian flair with pops of Northern Rhône savory smoked meat and a little more of that iron-shaving minerality than you typically find in Cru Beaujolais. Firm, fine tannins lend lift and spice, with everything driven by mouthwatering acidity. Serve this in large Burgundy stems just above cellar temperature after a 30-minute decant and enjoy it alongside Guillaume’s favorite—coq au vin. And don’t be afraid to let a few bottles slumber in the cellar because this will continue to evolve over the next 3-5 years. Enjoy!