Jean Claude Chanudet La Cuvee du Chat Gamay 2019

Jean-Claude Chanudet "Cuvée du Chat" Vin de France 2019

I've missed sharing WOW wines with you. So here's my first WOW wine in the new era. You could call it a Wine Of the Week, or a Wine OtherWorldly, but the point is this one stopped me in my tracks and I ordered all that was left in the state. It's a lovely Beaujolais Gamay from two of the most revered families in the region, the Chanudets and the Lapierres. It's labeled a "vin de france" but it's really all from a single plot of old vines planted in 1945 by a previous owner. Imagine planting vines in 1945 in France, with European fascism on the cusp of defeat. If only they could see us now. The point is this wine is dynamite, and does a lot for the (discounted) price.

This "Vin de France" really comes from a single plot in the Brouilly region of Beaujolais. I don't exactly know why the Chanudets and the Lapierres decided to release this as a VdF instead of a Beaujolais Cru, but it might be to preserve the prestige of their main family winery bottlings while retaining a little secret awesome project on the side for those in the know. Regardless this is super delicious and speaks to the things we love about Beaujolais: fresh, ripe strawberry fruit, lifted herbal notes of tarragon and wet sage, a spicy clove-studded citrus note on the back end. It's delightfully easy to drink, but doesn't lack for texture and richness. This is a true Crunchy Red Fruit wine, and joins a long list of other lovely things that I couldn't get enough of for club, but that I wanted to share with you because they were delicious. Get on it. Only a couple cases available. - Jackson