Today’s wine is a very special debut from a top-tier Cru Beaujolais producer and it has us brimming with excitement. In 2015, Domaine des Braves decided to craft a limited bottling in homage to a couple of occurrences that couldn’t be ignored. First, they enjoyed a phenomenal 2015 harvest, one that brought impressively ripe and fresh fruit. Second, the family stumbled upon an ancient gold coin in their vineyard—an aureus depicting Macrinus, a Roman Emperor who ruled 1800 years ago!
For today's namesake bottling, they didn’t just take their regular (and routinely excellent) Régnié and slap on a new label: This fruit hails from their two-acre, old-vine gem of a vineyard, “Les Braves,” and it results in one of the richest and most balanced takes on 2015 Beaujolais I’ve encountered. On first taste, it strangely brought the structure and intensity of Hermitage to mind. You may not think of Beaujolais as full-bodied, but this bottle will change your perception—it brings exceptionally layered concentration combined with mouthwatering tension. I vividly remember visiting Domaine des Braves last March: We sat in their modest tasting room early in the day, literally freezing, while this wine was used to raise our core temperatures (alongside about two kilos of pâté en croûte). I kept drinking this wine not only for survival reasons, but because it was incredible. We’re always amazed with Domaine des Braves’ ability to craft wines that are simultaneously rich while perfectly balanced, but “Macrinus” is in a class by itself. This is a unique, small-production wine of magnitude and poise, extremely assertive but true to its terroir—all at an incredibly modest price!
The village of Régnié is the newest of the 10 officially recognized Beaujolais crus (“elevated” in 1988) and certainly one of the most bucolic, with gentle rolling hills that sit 1,000 feet above sea level. Roughly 80 different growers call Régnié home and it’s worth betting that if you knock on a door here, the person who answers probably has grape-stained hands. This certainly is the case for the Cinquin family. Established in 1903, Franck Cinquin is the fourth generation at Domaine des Braves and has upheld the tradition and style of his forefathers to the utmost degree. Along with the heralded Guy Breton, Domaine des Braves continually proves to be one of the premier producers of Régnié.
Paul Cinquin acquired many of Domaine des Braves’ Régnié vines in the 1970s; most of their vineyards sit on a high plateau of about 300 meters elevation, with full-south expositions and soils rich in sand, pink granite, and limestone. Now run by the fourth generation (Paul’s son, Franck) of the Cinquin family, the wines are sustainably farmed, minimal-intervention expressions of place. Essentially, they remain natural and neutral until the most extreme forces of Mother Nature require them to intervene—but only as a last resort. “Macrinus” comes from a special two-acre parcel that sits in the best part of their plateau and holds their oldest vines, coming in at 60 years of age. The small, hand-harvested crop that is yielded after a strict sorting process is entirely destemmed and undergoes a natural fermentation in stainless steel tanks. After additional aging, the wine is bottled both unfined and unfiltered.
The inaugural 2015 release of “Macrinus”—a.k.a “Cuvée Anne-Virginie”—pours a dark ruby moving to purple and pink at the rim. The nose greets you with high-toned floral notes and rich, dark fruit. “Macrinus” has incredible ripeness, yes, but it’s all backed by intense freshness and complex mineral savor that comes from meticulously farmed, old-vine Gamay. You’ll discover beautiful, intoxicating notes of ripe blackberries, black cherry liqueur, fresh violet and rose petal, macerated strawberries, licorice, crushed granite, sage, and plums of all different colors. It’s a big Beaujolais that commands your respect on the palate with fine-grained tannins, firm structure, and a jaw-dropping balancing act of ultra-ripe berry fruit, earth, and refreshing acidity. Certainly drink one now, but stow the rest in order to experience the peak between its fifth and 10th birthday. When consuming, pour into Burgundy stems and serve just above cellar temperature next to this sausage and apple-stuffed pork roast. It may be a tiring preparation, but after eating a bite and taking a sip of “Macrinus” you’ll be all smiles!
