Description
Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot, Fleurie “Clos de l’Amandier”
What can I say: Cru Beaujolais is the red wine of the moment. Nothing can compete with it from a value standpoint. And over the last few years, despite the treasure trove of memorable bottles at our disposal, we’ve kept returning to breakout superstar Grégoire Hoppenot. He’s got the resume and vineyard real estate to back up all the hype we’ve heaped on him, and while he does everything well, I’ve come to think of Fleurie as his signature “cru.”
Today’s wine from Hoppenot’s “Le Clos de l’Amandier” monopole (solely owned vineyard) is the estate’s rarest and, arguably, most powerful expression of Fleurie. That said, it is also quintessentially Fleurie—focused, floral, linear, and “Burgundian” in style, leaning toward the red-fruited side of the Gamay aroma/flavor spectrum. Hoppenot was named La Revue du Vin de France’s “Discovery of the Year” in 2021, and if you’ve been a SommSelect subscriber for any length of time, you’ve surely seen plenty of gushing praise for him on these pages. Much like his famous neighbor, Clos de la Roilette, Hoppenot produces Fleurie of uncommon cellar potential, and you can be certain that the 2020 edition of “Clos de l’Amandier” has plenty of stuffing for extended aging. That said, I can’t imagine waiting to pull the cork: This ripe and refined stunner is ready to rock your world!
Before he returned to his Beaujolais birthplace and set up shop in Fleurie—right across the road from one of our all-time favorites, Clos de la Roilette—Grégoire Hoppenot was a well-known consultant for Jaboulet in the Rhône Valley and several top estates in Burgundy. When it came to the raw material for his Cru Beaujolais wines, he assembled a small but enviable collection of vineyard parcels, and as I look back, we’ve probably featured them all in offers.
Hoppenot’s farming is Certified Organic, and, in the cellar, he prefers the “semi-carbonic” approach: there’s no sealing up of the fermentation vessels and pumping in CO2, but instead an ambient yeast fermentation/maceration of whole grape clusters in 60-hectoliter concrete vats, followed by aging in a combination of large oak foudres and used pièces bourguignonnes (228-liter Burgundy barrels). Little-to-no sulfur is added at bottling.
“Le Clos de l’Amandier” faces south/southwest and sits in the hamlet of Poncié (where the winery is located), with soils of granitic sand and stony clay over granite bedrock. Vine age ranges from 15-30 years. In comparison to Hoppenot’s “Les Moriers” bottling, it is denser and slightly more brooding in its structure, requiring a little more time to open. In the glass, this 2020 is a deep ruby moving to a magenta rim, with a bright and complex nose of black raspberry, red and black cherry, Damson plum, damp violets, dried herbs, black pepper, and crushed stones.
It is deeply flavored and medium-plus in body, with a persistent mineral/floral finish and lots of focus—the juicy, tangy fruit is framed nicely by freshness and a pinch of fine-grained tannin. Right now, the wine is in a youthful, “primary” phase and will benefit from 15+ minutes in a decanter, after which it starts to really sing at 60 degrees in a Burgundy glass. Among other things, this instantly becomes the most versatile red in your arsenal, pairing beautifully with everything from skirt steak or burgers to coq au vin and roast pork. As we like to say around here, this is a “pantry staple,” albeit one with uncommon class. Enjoy!
