2017 Domaine du Clos du Fief Michel et Sylvain Tete Chenas Les Grands Gandelins Beaujolais 750 ml

“Are you kidding?” We recall blurting out when we learned the price. Nothing could have prepared us for the sheer power and structure of this bargain Cru Beaujolais. It could easily pass for a much higher-priced red Burgundy from the north—only the silky tannins and juicy quality of the ripe fruit give it the distinct mark of Beaujolais. 

The aromas were explosive—raspberry, ripe cherry, blueberry, and violets. The palate had direction and volume, brimming with the kind of mineral complexity that literally called to mind the very compact soils underfoot. The center held firm—fresh and youthful with cracked pepper accents and cherry blossom notes.

We were in the tiny hamlet of Juliénas, an hour and a half south of Dijon where Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune transitions from the Mâcon into Beaujolais, where father-son duo Michel and Sylvain Tête of Domaine du Clos du Fief floored us with their Cru Beaujolais. 

Domaine du Clos du Fief may be a simple family operation, but despite the jetlag, we knew that the Cru Beaujolais in our glass was nothing simple at all. Standing atop the pink-granite hillsides of Chénas, a Beaujolais Cru just outside Juliénas, it was early in the morning and we were in a bit of a daze. Sylvain, who is built like a linebacker (and who likely picked every grape bunch himself) was talking about their 2017 Les Grands Gandelins, a 100% Gamay sourced from the very vines at our feet. One sip and we were suddenly wide awake.

We committed to a pallet on the spot—56 cases of Les Grands Gandelins from the 2017 vintage (a particularly stellar year for the Crus). When our own Sur Lucero, Master Sommelier tasted it stateside, he earmarked 24 bottles for his personal enjoyment. 

It’s getting harder and harder to find wines of such profound sophistication and extreme value such as those produced at Domaine du Clos du Fief. Les Grands Gandelins Cru vineyard is home to a mere four acres of densely-planted vines rooted in compact sandy soils atop a pink granite base. It may well be our new favorite site in all of Beaujolais. 

It certainly stuck with us. In fact, we tracked a bit of that sand into Daniel & Denise, one of our favorite lunch spots in Lyon. After all, France’s culinary capital was only an hour’s drive once we’d said our goodbyes to the Têtes. They’d given us another bottle of the Chénas to enjoy with our lunch of Lyonnaise sausages baked in brioche. And unusually, it was the wine we couldn’t stop talking about rather than the cuisine.

The wine is so fresh, so silky and juicy, yet so intricately complex with the kind of structure that could see this wine aging well into the next decade. Enjoy it now and often.