Pascal Granger Beaujolais Villages Le Bouteau

The Wine... Significant amounts of old vine (45 to 90-year-old) fruit is harvested at this domaine. Pascal Granger utilizes parcels in some of the best vineyard sites around his village to make a wine of exceptional ripeness and purity. All the fruit for Granger’s wine is hand harvested and fermented at relatively high temperatures (35 to 38 degrees Celsius.) Pascal’s reds are ageworthy, easy to drink now but also worth stowing aside for future dinners, parties, gatherings in need of levity.

The Land... Julienas is a village in northern Beaujolais, close to the Mâcon. Over 600 hectares of vines are cultivated in this appellation. Most of these vines grow on steep hillsides, a situation that aids in the production of high quality wine. Granite and schist in the soil also contributes to the style of Julienas: generally firmer and darker than wines made in neighboring appellations.

The Man... The Granger clan moved barely north from Chenas to Julienas a century ago. They have been grape growers for over 200 years. Today the bulk of Pascal Granger’s grapevines are immediately around his home village. Pascal Granger’s estate was hard to find. It is just outside of town, but several circles of Julienas were required to find this hidden in plain sight domaine. Granger is obviously a farmer, the wines we tasted in his cellar showed the potential of Gamay fruit cultivated attentively. Honest, structured wines that are values in any context.