DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018 MOULIN-À-VENT
EXCLUSIVE TO CORNEY & BARROW IN THE UK
DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
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“I do not make Beaujolais. I make Moulin-à-Vent.” NADINE GUBLIN
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018 Moulin-à-Vent’s oldest estate, established in 1850
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At times one wishes to have a loudspeaker and hale from the rooftops about these wines. Their story needs to be told and is so much worth the telling. We consistently say that our wines must have a sense of place. This rule holds good with Domaine Labruyère as the wines are quintessentially wines from very specific places… We ask of our customers that they suspend all preconceptions of Beaujolais. This is Moulin-à-Vent, within Beaujolais certainly, but with a very distinct hallmark. Quoting my colleague Guy Seddon, “These are stunning, age-worthy wines which not only represent a pinnacle of what is happening in the region, but also offer
some of the best value in the world of fine wine. If you are lover of Burgundy or sensitively made northern Rhône, these wines are for you”. We have been very fortunate in representing Domaine Labruyère since the 2013 vintage. 14 hectares in total, all within Moulin-à-Vent. Nadine Gublin, an inspirational winemaker has been consistent in her views about the Domaine’s wines since we first met. In our opinion, she is quite correct in making the distinction in the quote opposite, as the wines have an air of gravitas which takes them to a very superior level. They are also great and flexible food wines.
ALISON BUCHANAN March 2020
DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
HISTORY A sense of history underpins the Labruyère family’s interests in wine and viticulture today. In 1850, Jean-Marie Labruyère bought ten hectares of vines around Les Thorins, a hamlet in the Romanèche-Thorins, a commune of the Saône-et-Loire département. One hundred and fifty years later, the family acquired Le Clos du Moulin-àVent. This property is the sole monopole in the region, ideally sited beside the iconic windmill. Édouard Labruyère grew up at the estate and is today the seventh generation to run it. Édouard took over in 2008 and together with winemaker Nadine Gublin and viticulturalist Michel Rovere, has continued to shepherd an estate which is both an ambassador for Moulin-à-Vent (and then some) and the capability and potential nobility of the Gamay grape.
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THE TEAM Édouard Labruyère was born in 1976 at the original family domaine in Moulin-à-Vent, Beaujolais. Following a short period as a diplomat in Africa, he returned to the world of wine in 2003, working as a courtier in Bordeaux from 2003 until 2008. He has run the family wine estates since 2008. Nadine Gublin has been head winemaker at Domaine Labruyère since 1990. After a decade at the domaine, she was named ‘Winemaker of the Year’ by the Revue de Vin de France, the only French woman to have been so recognised. Nadine describes her approach as “sustainable viticulture, precise winemaking and optimal ripeness”. Michel Rovere is Chef de Culture and Chef de Cave at Domaine Labruyère. Born in Mâcon, Michel has lived all his life in Romanèche Thorins in the heart of Moulin-à-Vent. He joined Domaine Labruyère in 1984 at the age of 18 and has stayed with the family ever since.
DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
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THE VINEYARDS PLANTINGS (Hectares)
AVERAGE VINE AGE
Moulin-à-Vent Coeur de Terroirs
10.00 ha
50 years +
Champ de Cour
1.42 ha
50 years +
Le Carquelin
1.75 ha
50 years +
Le Clos du Moulin-à-Vent, Monopole
0.92 ha
70 years +
For the team, the emphasis on the vineyard is paramount. Everything is done manually in the vineyard, with a focus on sustainability. Horses are used for ploughing. Vines are spur-pruned and trained in the traditional gobelet style, which means cutting them back almost to the vinehead during the winter (making the vine look a little like a goblet). The vines are short, restricting yields. This also means the grapes are low to the ground, the reflected heat affording some protection from frost but the humidity bringing a risk of fungal disease. There is no rush to harvest here, Michel Rovere being content to wait as long as it takes for sugar and phenolic maturity. Yields are extremely low, borne out by the intensity and complexity of the wines. Whilst the
appellation permits 52 hectolitres per hectare (hl/ha), domaine Labruyère’s yields fall between 22 and 35 hl/ha. As mentioned, Édouard is very clear in his vision for the domaine, running it with respect for his ancestors but with future generations very much in the forefront of that which they do. In viticulture, they avoid chemical treatments wherever possible, but do not seek certified organic status. The changes Édouard has made have had a very obvious and tangible effect. Both the bunches of grapes and the individual berries have become smaller, giving a greater ratio of grape skins to juice, and therefore more tannic structure. Added to the limited yields, the result is wines of increased texture, intensity and complexity.
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THE CELLARS Having exerted ultimate discipline in the vineyard, Édouard hardly stints in the cellar. The grapes, 100% hand-picked Gamay, arrive in the cellar to be double sorted ensuring optimum quality.
Never a hostage to tradition, the team is always outward looking and has sought to distance their regimen from the Beaujolais habit of carbonic maceration, via which Beaujolais Nouveau gained stature – so far removed from what happens here. Nadine goes to pains to point out that the domaine has never used and will never use that specific winemaking style, synonymous with light bodied, early drinking wines. Historically, in line with breaking with Beaujolais traditions, the harvest has been 100% destemmed, although in some recent vintages (but not in 2018) Édouard and Nadine have increased the proportion of whole bunch fermentation. Domaine Labruyère is the polar opposite of what we used to
view as Beaujolais stylistically, with sophisticated wines which are deeply coloured, with intensity, depth and considerable ageing potential. Fermentation is in temperature-controlled concrete. Then the wines are matured in oak, large-format 600 litre oak demi-muids, generally with just 3-5% new oak (which is necessary as older barrels need to be replaced). Le Clos is matured in demi-muids, 10% new oak for the same reason. Winemaking tends towards the reductive, with very limited racking. After maturation the wines are transferred back to concrete pre-bottling and are bottled unfiltered, with the lightest of filtering.
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2018 VINTAGE NOTES January was mild, then followed by a cold February and both a cold and wet March. Benign conditions returned in April, facilitating bud-burst between 11th and 16th April, relatively late. Despite a lack of rain, the mild conditions in April and May made for a growth spurt. Rain then arrived mid-May, with quite frequent showers through to mid-June. So, the climate was both mild and humid during flowering – which was fast, lasting about one week. Moving into July, the weather was warmer than normal and rather dry with hot conditions towards the end of the month which impacted on véraison (grapes changing colour) and continued through to a hot, early August. Later in the month the climate became more normal with a dry end to August and a dry, hot September – perfect harvest conditions and indeed, picking began 20th August.
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DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
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THE WINES The five wines in this offer fall into two groups: those which put the Gamay grape centre-stage and those which stress the individuality of single vineyards.
Les Thorins
N
Moulin-à-Vent LE CLOS
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CHAMP DE COUR
LE CARQUELIN
Romanèche -Thorins
Tasting Guide Our tasting notes provide full details but, at your request, we have also introduced a clear and simple marking system. We hope these guidelines assist you in your selection. For the benefit of simplicity, wines are scored out of 20. We will often use a range of scores (e.g. 16.5 to 17) to indicate the potential to achieve a higher mark. When a ‘+’ is shown it adds further to that potential. Wines from lesser vintages will, inevitably, show a lower overall score. Wines are judged, in a very broad sense, against their peers. Why? Well, you cannot easily compare a Ford with an Aston Martin, other than they are both cars and have wheels. It is not that different with wine. A score is a summary only. The devil is in the detail, so please focus on the tasting notes and, as always, speak to our sales team.
DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
THE ‘VARIETAL’ WINES
BOURGOGNE GAMAY Welcome to an honest translation of the Gamay grape from Moulin-à-Vent. Charm and approachability are the watchwords here – simply lovely. Essentially declassified Coeur de Terroir, the vines are planted on two soil types: granite on the slopes with more clay further down the slope. The limited oak used creates a frame for a display of red cherries and berries. This is both modest and quietly powerful, with undercurrents of granitic minerals and gentle hints of spice. The palate is an eye-opener, balancing abundant fruit with impressive density, all supported by fruit-coated, ripe tannins. Corney & Barrow Score 16.5 - 17 Recommended drinking from 2021 – 2024 £79/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK
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MOULIN-À-VENT COEUR DE TERROIRS Coeur de Terroirs is a blend of five parcels which stylistically sits somewhere between the Bourgogne Gamay and the specifically-sited terroir wines. The grapes for this wine, from 50 year old vines grown on quartz-rich granite, are 100% destemmed. This has seen 18 months in large oak then concrete. Very intense ruby in colour, it offers a blend of blueberry, bramble, black cherry and spice on both the nose and palate, the tiniest hint of citrus zest for vitality and hints of grilled fennel on the finish. Corney & Barrow Score 17.5 Recommended drinking from 2022 – 2027 £99/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK
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THE SINGLE VINEYARDS
CHAMP DE COUR
LE CLOS DU MOULIN-À-VENT, MONOPOLE
This is a south-east facing 1.5 hectare site with vines over 50 years old, planted at 10,000 plants per hectare on granitic soils, with pebbles under thick, dense clay. The wine is aged in large, mainly old oak, (5% new) 600 litre demi-muids, for 15 months.
Le Clos is the only monopole (vineyard in sole ownership) in Moulin-à-Vent. As one looks at the iconic windmill essentially one is looking at this plot – a great ambassador for the domaine’s wines, powerful, age-worthy and concentrated, from the oldest vines. Domaine Labruyère's wines sit somewhere between Burgundian elegance and the spice and cedar we expect from the Rhône. Le Clos has its feet firmly set in the latter camp.
This is an intense dark red, jet-shot, rich in black cherry, forest fruits with a heady, floral perfume. There is a saline minerality which adds focus and direction to a generous palate and certain savoury notes add depth. Champ de Cour was entirely destemmed this year. Corney & Barrow Score 17 Recommended drinking from 2023 – 2030+ £125/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK
LE CARQUELIN Le Carquelin is an extraordinary site rated alongside Champ de Cour in the Labruyère hierarchy. It combines perfume and elegance with innate power, warranting a little patience. This 3.5 hectare site has only two owners, with Domaine Labruyère owning half. It is a south-facing slope, with 50 year old vines planted on friable granite (i.e. it looks like a mixture of granite and sand). When the appellation was created in 1936, this was considered a premier cru. 100% destemmed in 2018. This is deeply coloured and is rather strident on the nose and palate, offering a heady blend of spiced fruit, toasted notes, and a touch of leather, complementing fruit and flowers and hints of fennel. There is a twist of tangerine peel which refreshes the mid-palate. Corney & Barrow Score 18 Recommended drinking from 2023 – 2034 £145/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK
A south-facing walled vineyard, just under a hectare in size. Le Clos’ vines are an average of 70 years old, some of them planted pre-phylloxera, en foule (untrellised), at a density of 13,000 vines per hectare. This is a unique, arid terroir of hard granite and sand, very rocky and with no topsoil at all. The wine is aged entirely in barrels, the proportion of new oak varying with the vintage conditions, with the remainder being one to two year old barrels from Domaine Jacques Prieur. Spiced dark fruit is allied to cigar box notes, minerals and heady flowers. Generous, with firm well-integrated tannins, there is a mineral seam which adds energy and focus to rich, dark cherry fruit, sustaining a long, detailed finish. Corney & Barrow Score 18+ Recommended drinking from 2023 – 2033+ £200/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK
To Order LONDON
020 7265 2430 EDINBURGH
01875 321 921 EMAIL
sales@corneyandbarrow.com PLEASE NOTE These wines are released en primeur. Delivery dates to be confirmed. All prices are quoted in bond UK.
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DOMAINE LABRUYÈRE 2018
CONTACT US Our Locations
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