Château des Bachelards Saint Amour

Wine Information
There are many fun simple styles of Beaujolais like the ‘Nouveau’ style used for celebrating harvest or the Carbonic wines that are super fruity. In general, the wines from the southern part of Beaujolais are less prestigious, grown on simple low-lying soils. The northern part of Beaujolais is famous for 10 Cru villages with granite soils as the general base for the best vineyards. Saint Amour is Beaujolais’ most northerly appellation and is quite versatile when it comes to complexity. The biodynamic wines of Bachelards are some of the most complex and structured of the wines coming from the Saint Amour Cru. Deep garnet with bright reflections, the nose is intense with black soil, pepper, Iris flowers, licorice, and berry fruits. On the palate the wine is firm like the wines of Moulin-à-Vent. The wine shows great freshness, minerality, and an expressive finish with delicate tannins. Optimum at 4-5 years and capable of aging up to 15 years.

Food Pairing: A fun wine for lighter dishes and white meats. The fruit character plays well with Chinese foods and mild curries. Great with fresh cow’s milk cheeses.

Varietal Notes: The story of the Gamay grape in Burgundy is a blockbuster! A sibling to Pinot Noir, this ancient grape was gaining popularity in the 14th century because it was much easier to grow and produce than Pinot Noir. In 1395, the then Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, banned the grape entirely and declared it be, ‘destroyed and reduced to nothing’. He disliked the taste very much and this one man nearly brought the grape to extinction. Luckily, the Beaujolais region at the time was largely ignored and the grape survived, finding a final home here.
Gamay is typically high in acid and low in tannin, but the wines of Bachelards are anything but typical, this is Gamay at its most complex and age-worthy vinified in a classic Burgundian style.

Terroir: Organic farming certified by Ecocert, biodynamic certified by Demeter, from the middle of the slope on south facing hills, manual harvesting of fruits at optimal maturity from 40-60-year-old vines on unique pink granite soils with mica and shale. The vines go deeper here than in Fleurie.

Winemaking: Juice is received by gravity and vinified in concrete vats with native yeast and 28 days on the skins followed by 12 months in equal parts stainless steel and 500-liter casks. All estate fruit and no carbonic maceration.