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Jean-Claude Lapalu is based in the southern Cru of Brouilly, where his family has farmed for generations. Jean-Claude has been farming his land organically for decades, certified in 2010, and is currently in biodynamic conversion. He approaches his work in the cellar with a light touch, preferring native yeasts and sparse additions of sulfur. Setting aside his rare Cuvee des Fous, the Croix des Rameaux is his finest wine, and is one of our very favorite Beaujolais cru wines year after year. Only 200 cases are made, so you'll be forgiven for never having seen this wine for sale. Lapalu is laser-focused on energy, brightness, and lift, and his wines always deliver in this regard. The signature fruit profile is that of a suave black cherry, marked by lift and energy, and driven by earthier elements to render a more complete wine. Jean-Claude has some interesting theories about wine--notably his notion that wines are divisible into two categories: there are those which one "drinks while standing up", which seems to imply that they're simpler and more linear, and then there are those which one "drinks while sitting down", and these are the single vineyard/parcel wines (of which the Croix des Rameaux is an example). Jean-Claude remarks that Brouilly terroir demands a more attentive vinification. The Croix des Rameaux is made from a handful of special Brouilly parcels, with vines aged between 60 and 90 years. The wine undergoes semi-carbonic maceration for three weeks, before aging in neutral barrel 6-8 months. It is then finished with the tiniest bit of sulfur--10mg at bottling, in order to yield the liveliest, freshest wine possible.
Monday - Friday |
11:00 am - 7:00 pm |
Saturday |
12:00 pm - 7:00 pm |
Sunday |
Closed |
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