Domaine de la Grosse Pierre is a family estate established in Chiroubles in the 1960's. Today it is run by the dynamic young third gen, Pauline Passot. Strictly Beaujolais specialists with a particular devotion to the cooler, broken granite of the village of Chiroubles, they farm organically with some biodynamic preparations, growing exclusively gamay – proper name is gamay noir à jus blanc - and it’s closely related to pinot noir. Chiroubles (say she-ROO-blh) is one of the ten cru villages of Beaujolais, admired for producing the most serious, complex and ageable expressions of gamay. This wine is made just like Pascal’s cru wines (she makes four of them) but she also makes this sensational ‘basic’ Beaujolais that punches far above its weight. The fruit comes from a 540-metre-high site on feldspar granite in Chiroubles called Saint-Joseph and the vines are 60 years old. It’s vinified following a process called carbonic maceration, with the goal of having a deeply coloured, pure-fruited wine with modest tannins and cleansing acidity. The crunchy, frisky wine is then aged in inox for 7 months, before release for us to enjoy – especially in the autumn. Most producers’ basic Beaujolais is from young vines from flat areas with less interesting terroir and are quite insubstantial. This is the opposite and you’llimmediately note gamay's violet scents and jubilant red berry fruit - cherries, strawberries and raspberries, with a whiff of herbal scents. Highly versatile, this wine is a fine way to start the Thanksgiving celebrations with an appetizer platter of rustic pâté, charcuterie, baked brie or warm spinach dip. Give the wine a slight chill to enhance the entire experience!
-- DJ Kearney
