Côte de Brouilly 'Le Sept Vignes' Château Thivin 2021

Description

Château Thivin of the Côte de Brouilly appellation in Beaujolais has been in the hands of the Geoffray family since 1877. Today Claude and Evelyne Geoffray produce several different cuvees depending on the orientation of each parcel as the Côte de Brouilly hill has vines on all of its four sides. The regular wine blend is known as Sept Vignes (as there are seven different locations for their various plots), while they are increasingly introducing single vineyard cuvees.

Château Thivin is the standard bearer for the Côte de Brouilly. They farm about ten parcels around the vertiginous volcanic hill. The heart of the portfolio is a cluster of single-vineyard cuvées ranking amongst the finest in Beaujolais. Their winery is one of the quaintest in the region and is perched on the hillside, offering functional advantages as it enables them to use gravity in their winery. Though they have tended to eschew carbonic maceration, most of the fruit is fermented as whole bunches, depending on the vintage, before aging in foudres for six or twelve months. On this occasion, I met with Sonja Geoffray, the wife of Claude-Edouard, who was out in the vineyard on the day of my visit. She told me that in 2021, they practiced more de-leafing in the vineyards to enhance aeration and prevent the spread of rot. The harvest commenced on September 16th. “We had to sort,” she explains, “but there was not a lot of damage from the hail. We did more de-stemming in this vintage.” This was a solid set of wines from Thivin. Neal Marin, Vinous

A blend of parcels, the 2021 Côte de Brouilly Les Sept Vignes offers a mixture of raspberry, wild strawberry, truffle and incense that blossoms in the glass. The palate is well-balanced, quite structured and strict at this stage, with fine linearity; it is restrained with a sapid finish. A bit stark on its own, but you can imagine it shining with a simple coq au vin. Neal Marin, Vinous