Jules du Souzy 2020 Fleurie

£11.10
Tasting notes
Minerally, fruity spicy and the medium side of light bodied - really nice. Goes well with spicy foods and hard cheeses.

Why we recommend this wine
On one our first trips to Burgundy we drove to the southern-most part to start our trip; to the vineyards of Beaujolais where we overnighted in Fleurie. We tasted the wines from most of the Beaujolais villages and found those of Fleurie to be most to our taste.

The wine
The wine maker describes this wine as “An elegant Fleurie where mineral notes complement ripe fruit and spicy nuances. Inimitable finesse and a persistent finish with well balanced tannin and acidity. Velvety, elegant and floral.” We don’t disagree.

Grapes come from the slopes below the Chapel de la Madonne where soil is granitic with large crystals and areas of sand. Grapes are harvested by hand and loaded into the fermentation tank in whole bunches. Maceration lasts 10 to 12 days to give extra colour and body

The wine estate
Who makes this wine is a bit of a mystery – it doesn’t even have a website. The name Jules de Souzy is also the name of one of the wines of Château de la Terrière which is located about 15km South of Fleurie. So maybe they are the makers but they use grapes bought in from other vineyards. This does not make the wine any worse because not all grape growers make their own wines and complies with French law - see Did You Know? below.
chateaudelaterriere.fr

Food and wine
Goes well with spicy foods such as an Asian duck salad, grilled and roast red meat and hard cheeses. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here.

Did you know?
The rules are so strict in France that if you grow grapes and bottle them under your own domaine name you may not buy in grapes from someone else. If you buy in grapes then you have to keep that business totally separate from the domaine. This négociant business is often given a similar or associated name.