Famille Dutraive Fleurie Lieu Dit Champagne 2020

Jean-Louis does everything right. In his words, he practices “low intervention, high surveillance” winemaking. Everything is organic, with only tiny amounts of sulfur added at bottling in certain vintages — only when necessary. This is the winemaker that other Beaujolais winemakers look to as a yardstick, the one who sets the bar for great Gamay and yet somehow never receives quite the same type of standing ovation as his peers.

This single vineyard negociant wine is made by Jean-Louis with his three children. It comes from the southern reaches of Fleurie and is more relaxed than some of Dutraive’s estate bottlings. It’s still a powerful wine, with wafts of Mediterranean spices,  strawberry jam, marinated olives, and bay leaf, but has a certain generosity and openness to it. Drink with a chill!