Chateau Thivin Cote de Brouilly Les 7 Vignes – 2020

This is a blend of Gamay grapes grown on Chateau Thivin’s 7 vineyards on the blue clay soils of Mont Brouilly. The vineyards have been worked 100% organically since 2010 and are in the process of gaining biodynamic certification. 

This is Chateau Thivin’s key wine and a true reflection of the unique terroirs of Mont Brouilly. It has dark cherry fruit, spice and a real sense of minerality, combined with the extra fruit weight and structure of the warm and sunny 2020 vintage. It should drink beautifully until 2030 and probably beyond!

“The 2020 Côte de Brouilly is already very expressive, bursting with aromas of ripe berry fruit, plums and cherries mingled with hints of raw cocoa and spices. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, it’s rich and fleshy, with powdery tannins, lively acids and a sapid finish. In style, this is more muscular than the more elegant 2019, but both represent benchmarks for Beaujolais in their respective vintages.

This historic estate continues to rank among the reference points for classical, age-worthy cru Beaujolais. As I wrote last year, the Geoffrays have banished herbicides and insecticides from their vineyards and number among the appellation’s most conscientious farmers, working toward organic certification. They’re also experimenting with a tiny planting of naturally disease-resistant hybrids that require no agrochemical interventions, and I blind tasted a micro-cuvée produced from these vines, which was impossible to identify. In the cellar, winemaking is traditional, with semi-carbonic maceration and élevage generally in foudre—though some small cuvées see a little new wood. A staple of France’s best restaurants—and this writer’s table—any readers who are not acquainted with these wines are warmly advised to seek them out. After the more delicate, ethereal 2019 vintage, the 2020s represent a return to the richer, more muscular register exemplified by 2018, 2017 and 2015, and they have turned out very well.”

93/100pts The Wine Advocate