An iconic castle in Brouilly appellation, which range expresses
the richness, diversity and uniqueness of this terroir through parcel selection.
BROUILLY 2020
RÉSERVE DU CHÂTEAU

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The vineyards of the Beaujolais region are very hilly. They are delimited on one side by the foothills of France’s Massif Central mountain range and overlook the Saône River’s floodplain between Mâcon and Lyon. Nestled at the foot of Mont Brouilly, Château de Pierreux is one of the most beautiful residences in the Beaujolais region.

Several centuries of history have shaped this ancient 13th-century fortified house of which two towers still stand today. The castle was renovated several times over the centuries. Its vaulted cellars date back to the 17th century while the current building was erected in the 19th century.

Château de Pierreux’s 110 hectares of vines are planted in shallow, well-drained pink granitic, schistous, and siliceous soils which contain deposits of blue porphyry from the volcanic eruptions of Mont Brouilly that date back millions of years.

The estate was certified High Environmental Value (HVE) in 2020.

Planting density: 6,000 to 10,000 vines/ha
Age of the vines: 42% of the plots are over 40 years old.
Pruning: gobelet & Cordon

Work philosophy: Growing methods are decided upon vineyard by vineyard according to lutte raisonnée, an environmentally friendly approach. Everything is analysed in detail: risk of disease, the number of harmful and beneficial insects that can be found in each vineyard, the size and number of bunches of grapes per vine, problems with weeds, the health of the vines’ leaves, etc.

Working of the soil: de-earthing, scraping, hoeing between the vines.

This philosophy has 3 objectives:

100% Gamay

With a beautiful intense purple color, this Brouilly opens with floral notes, black fruits and dark chocolate. The palate is dense, fleshy and elegant with hints of toffee and peonies. The tannins are smooth and silky. We also find the mineral touch that characterizes the wines of Pierreux.

A light sorting had to be carried out upon receipt of the harvest to perfect the cuvée and enhance its quality.
The grapes are 100% destemmed and then vinified in concrete vats.
We applied a fairly slow fermentation between 22 and 28 ° C with 1 pumping over per day and maceration for 12 to 18 days, with 2 to 4 loads at the end of maceration.
Aging in 50hL oak casks lasted 6 months to develop the structure, smooth the tannins and allow micro-oxygenation.
First bottling in March 2021.

Its concentration and elegance will allow us to taste it young, but it is a wine that can age without problem (4 to 8 years or more).

The year 2020 will have been unprecedented for everyone, including in viticulture!
After a very mild winter leading to early bud burst. Spring was also hot, dry and very sunny. June was more contrasted, showing itself to be cold, rainy then scorching, dry and very sunny. The beginning of flowering was very early, around May 20th. The start of veraison was noted around July 18th. The month of July was relatively hot and very dry, with rare and heterogeneous precipitation (3rd driest month of July since 1964). The month of August was contrasted, hot to very hot the first two weeks, then cool from August 28. The rainfall was very irregular, with much lower than normal rainfall but very variable from one area of ​​the vineyard to another.
The 2020 harvest is marked by heterogeneity from one plot to another, due to the great diversity of the terroirs, with their own resistance to drought and some rains that have fallen here and there. Indicators of water stress have never been so pronounced. Most of the Gamays were harvested very ripe.
The harvest at the Château began on August 24! The phenolic maturity was perfect. Certain cuvées reached 15 ° -16 ° C! The alcoholic fermentations were slow and laborious… but what a vintage!