DOMAINE DE COLETTE, France

Run by the humble Jacky Gauthier, it was founded by his father René. Jacky studied oenology at the tender age of 17 and immediately started working with his father in the vineyards. Today he is joined by his son Pierre-Alexandre, whose invigorating youthful enthusiasm has seen a further move to full organic practices and adoption of France’s new sustainability certification in line with the family’s philosophy of ‘terroir is their true wealth’. The vineyards are home to vines averaging 45 years of age, but one plot, called Colette, averages over 80 years. For visitors, the views from the cellar and reception room are nothing short of exceptional, extending across the rolling Beaujolais vineyards and the Saône Valley to the Alps, where Mont Blanc is visible on a clear day.

Viticulture

Concerned with preserving their terroirs, which they regard as their true wealth, they have been practicing sustainable farming for many years, and were pioneers of permanent grassing and the ban of chemical fertilisers on their vineyards. Pierre-Alexandre quickly adopted the practices laid out by Haute Valeur Environnementale, a stricter practice than Lutte Raisonnée, achieving HVE Level 3, and started the work towards full conversion to organic farming. Soils are granitic and the bush-trained vines average 45 years old. The harvest is carried out by hand with yields never exceeding 45 hl per ha.

Winemaking

After an exclusively manual harvest that ensures that each bunch is kept whole, they systematically sort the grapes on a sorting table before going into the vat under gravity. They vinify with the classic carbonic maceration technique using whole berries, with no-crushing and partial or total destemming. Depending on the appellation vatting times vary from 7 to 15 days, and fermentation temperatures are carefully controlled. After gentle pressing using a pneumatic press the wines finish alcoholic fermentation in the vats and some in barrels where they will spend the winter to stabilise naturally.