Jean-Claude Lapalu Vieilles Vignes Brouilly 2020

From vines between 50 and 70 years old. Whole cluster carbonic fermentation with indigenous yeasts for 10 to 20 days; transferred to neutral barrels for elevage of approximately 10 months. 10 mg/L of sulphur added at bottling.

"The 2020 Brouilly "Vieilles Vignes" from Jean-Claude Lapalu, which hails from vines that are all fifty years of age or older, is a beautiful example of the vintage. The bouquet is bright, complex and classically red fruity in composition, offering up scents of cherries, sweet cranberries, lovely spice tones, a good base of soil, gamebird and a topnote of bonfire. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and still has just a touch of spritz in it, with a lovely core, good soil signature, a bit of backend tannin and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. A little time in decanter lets the spritz blow off and the wine is already drinking very well, but it clearly has the depth and balance to also age quite gracefully. 2020-2030+." 93 pts, John Gilman