Description
Domaine Les Gryphées, Beaujolais “Cuvée Les Balmes”
If the Jeopardy category was “pricing” and the clue was “Burgundy real estate, century-old vines, hand-farming, and barrel aging,” one could safely assume the answer to be “what are wines over $40.” Normally, that would be correct, but “Cuvée des Balmes” is no normal wine. This highly addictive Beaujolais hails from ancient wooden beasts that yield a few clusters of Gamay per year. These delicate grapes are gently harvested by hand, fermented in the winery without any manipulation, and matured in old French barrels before bottling without any fining or filtration. All this, mind you, for a price that defies any sort of logic. So, if this $20 chart-busting Burgundy value doesn’t already have you lurching towards checkout, I’m at a loss for words. For all those still sleeping on this region, we have two words for you: wake up!!!
Beaujolais is a magnet for winemaking talent, a treasure trove of heirloom vineyards, and one of the world’s epicenters for red wine value. And by “value” I mean incomparable, “highway robbery” value, especially at Domaine Les Gryphées. Their specialty, aside from delivering mouthwatering, non-manipulated wines, is rediscovering sites with old raw material and restoring them to their former glory. Today’s “Cuvée Les Balmes” is a prime example: This small, steep plot is home to 100-year-old Gamay vines that burrow deep into clay-limestone and the region’s signature pierres dorées soils, “golden stones” that date back tens of millions of years. Ancient soil, old vines, classic winemaking—this is what Burgundy is all about!
Stationed in Moulin-à-Vent, the father-son team of Pierre and Guillaume Durdilly currently farm about 35 acres of vineyards throughout the sprawling region of Beaujolais. The name of the domaine, “Les Gryphées,” is derived from the ancient marine fossils (gryphées) found in some of their vineyards, where the family first started crafting estate-bottled wines in the 1970s. What stands out about these wines is their incredible detail and purity—these truly are wines that are “grown” rather than made, with fermentations carried out in stainless steel or cement and aging done in large, neutral oak foudres. It’s really all about viticulture for these guys, who plant beneficial herbs between the vine rows to combat erosion and pests and eschew chemical treatments in favor of organic ones.
Today’s 2019 “Cuvée Les Balmes” follows the Durdilly’s above-mentioned mantra to a T: hand-harvesting, fermentation via ambient, airborne yeasts in stainless steel, brief aging in old oak barrels, and bottling without removing anything. If you like French wine that provides an unmistakable sense of place and typicity, here you go—this couldn’t be anything other than fine, high-toned, thirst-quenching Beaujolais. In the glass, the wine reflects back a vivid ruby core with soft magenta hues and a stampede of buoyantly ripe fruit rumbles out: bing cherry, strawberry, black raspberry, red plum, cranberry. Keep swirling the glass and savory goodness shines through the frontline of pristine, plush fruit, revealing itself in the form of pomegranate seed, rhubarb, grape stem, rose petals, finely crushed stones, a touch of pepper, and forest floor. It is a perfect medium-bodied—no more, no less—with an impossibly soft, supple mouthfeel that makes a subsequent sip inevitable. It’s worth mentioning that Durdiully expertly avoids the ripe, chunky styles that many producers have fallen victim to in recent vintages—the balance and perfume in their wines is always impeccable. Decant this 10 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems at 55-60 degrees and let the good times roll. Warning: It’s damn hard to keep a full glass of this, so stock up generously.
