Columns — Tasting Notes

Christophe Roumier today makes some of the most monumental wines in terms of structure, a structure that favours long development. At the same time, they drink beautifully in their youth. The 2022 and 2021 are currently in a super open, juicy phase, but with age they slip into a kind of liturgical sleep. Ruchottes 2014 is right in that state now; despite all its complexity, you can feel its potential in every sip.

There are bottles that ask to be admired, and bottles that ask to be listened to. Domaine de la Grand’Cour Fleurie “Le Clos” 2014 belongs firmly in the second category: a Cru Beaujolais that has moved beyond simple charm and into something more layered, more resonant, and much more interesting to drink with time in the glass. This is the kind of wine that reminds you why Fleurie, at its best, can sit comfortably at a table with far more famous names.

There’s a particular kind of tasting where the bottles in front of you are clearly not built for the fine wine distribution, but still ask for more attention than their playful labels suggest. This lineup feels exactly like that: natural‑leaning wines that sit a few steps away from the world of great Bordeaux and Burgundy, yet still speak to anyone whose palate has spent a little too long in that company.