
2020 Domaine David-Beaupère Beaujolais Rouge






WINEMAKER: Louis-Clément David-Beaupère
VARIETAL: Gamay
REGION: Beaujolais, FR
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic
The Beaujolais rouge comes from two Gamay sites just to the south of Julienas sitting in the Beaujolais village appellation, the smaller an old parcel of Jules Chauvet. Winemaking is very simple with whole bunches kept in a mixture of stainless and concrete for two weeks before pressing. Has nice purity and some appealing pepperiness. Supple and drinkable with good purity and focus, and some grip. 10ppm added in the lead up to bottling with no other additions.
In 2008 Louis-Clément David-Beaupère (yes he has two hyphenated names) took over the family domaine his grandfather had purchased after the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). Prior to the wars end, the family resided in Algeria, where they grew cereals and vines. Clément (the one out of his three first names he prefers to be called) did not start out in wine-making. He first studied engineering and commerce before realising continuing his family legacy was his true calling in life. Since taking over responsibilities at the estate, Clément has been making the wines and, along with his mother, working in the vineyard farming their almost 7 hectares of vines.
When Louis-Clément took over the vineyards, he immediately started converting to organic farming - the vineyards were simply too close to the house to keep spraying with herbicides. In parts the vineyards were planted to densely and he removed some rows to allow less competition and greater airflow. This allowed him to work the soils less and allow greater grass species to return to his soils. The domaine and the wines are now certified organic and over the past decade Clemant has moved fully towards natural winemaking.