L’Héronde is an incredible lieu-dit of Côte de Brouilly, on track to become one of the first official Premier Cru vineyards of Beaujolais in the future. Domaine Les Roches Bleues’ L’Héronde is a limited-production bottling of over 65-year-old, bush-trained gamay vines that are grown on a southeast exposure with fractured pierre bleue soils at 350m. Jonathan has planted hedges and trees bordering the vineyard to connect the vineyard with the forested cap of Mont Brouilly. L’Héronde is very floral, with pronounced spiciness coming from the blueschist soils and savory, tasty red fruits with firm structure and density derived from low-yielding old vines. This wine is a Cru Beaujolais built to improve for a decade or more, if you can avoid drinking it right away.
Vinification
Whole bunches are handpicked in small crates and selected in the vineyard. 14 days of spontaneous, whole-cluster, semi-carbonic maceration is followed by a very gentle and slow pressing using a traditional old, wooden vertical press. The must is transferred into temperature-controlled cement tanks, where fermentation continues with native yeasts. After racking, the wine spends 18 months in 35hl old French foudres before being bottled unfiltered. Only a very small amount of sulfur is used at bottling. 4500 bottles produced.
Region
Beaujolais
Appellation
Côte de Brouilly
Commune
Odenas
Vineyard
Lieu-dit L’Héronde, southeastern exposure
Elevation
350m
Grapes
100% Gamay
Vine Age
65+ years old
Soil
Pierre bleue (blueschist)
Carbonic Maceration
14 days of spontaneous whole-cluster carbonic maceration, slow pressing
Fermentation
Spontaneous with native yeasts in temperature-controlled cement tanks with pump-overs
Aging
18 months in 35hL old French foudres
Farming
Certified Organic, Practicing Biodynamic, Agroforestry, Regenerative
S02 Total
21mg/L total
Fining & Filtration
No filtration, fined with diatomaceous earth
Vegan
Yes
ABV
14%
Pack Size
12x750mL