P'tit Grobis Blanc 2020

P'tit Grobis Blanc 2020,

Nicolas Chemarin

As expected, all-granitic Chardonnay, the white counterpart to the P'tit Grobis cuvée, classified as a Vin de France, offers a pale, opalescent yellow color. The sensations of this white Beaujolais-Villages are complex and difficult to summarize: first, on the nose and palate, the lactic, yeasty note is present. The fresh acidity is accompanied by flint, notes of white flowers, and a youthful expressiveness. Drinking young, it expresses its youthfulness well, and a little age reveals white fruits, a slight richness, and sweet notes. The harvest is directly pressed, followed by settling during which the winemaker takes care not to steal all the fine lees from the wine.

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Nicolas Chemarin, nicknamed "P'tit Grobis" as a resident of Marchampt (Beaujolais), is the fourth generation of winemaker on his family wine estate in the Beaujolais-Villages appellation, on stony land where he crafts wines of surprising depth and sincerity. In 2005, he took over two hectares of vines from his father and in 2006 he produced his first vintages. In 2008, he acquired other vines and decided to devote himself solely to his estate, whose very steep terroir consists of poor, rocky soils on gray granite rock. The vines rest on the bedrock through very thin soil, and their roots plunge deep into the rock. Depending on the configuration of the soil, the vines are pruned in goblet or raised on stakes. Their average age is eighty years. The grape varieties, Gamay and Chardonnay, are classically Beaujolais. Nicolas also cultivates two other terroirs in the Régnié appellation: Les Bullats, with light, filtering sandy soils, and La Haute Ronze, very close to Morgon, whose deeper, clayey soils produce full-bodied wines. The vintages undergo long macerations (from 18 to 30 days) with punching down and temperature control (Nicolas works cold, around 20°C). The aging is done partially in thermoregulated concrete vats for a third, the remaining two thirds passing into barrels of four to ten wines in order to provide oxygenation but little or no woody sensation. Nicolas Chemarin is already very well known in the natural world for his sweet and fruity vintages, wines of pleasure, and for vintages from difficult and magnificent terroirs, provided with admirable and complex mineral, aromatic and spicy notes.