An excellent Pinot - low yielding vines growing in calcium rich clay, within stoney subsoils derive a fine fruit. Extended brilliantly, sunny cool autumnal freshness has led to a wine of finesse and character.

The 2017 is a smoky and juicy dark cherry-and-raspberry-noted wine with sappy freshness and a nice, crunchy finish. "The late Marcel Lapierre once said of Beaujolais, Ça se bois sous la douche. (Its a wine you can drink under the shower). While this captures the simple deliciousness of much Beaujolais, it doesnt do justice to the wines being produced by the finest artisans like Pierre-Marie Chermette. Of the wines of Domaine du Vissoux we would be more likely to say, Il est trop bon pour être bu sous la douche! Its too damn good to be drunk in the shower! Beaujolais can be the most joyful, compelling and life-affirming of wines. Yet in the hands of a master it can also be a wonderfully refined, long-lived Burgundy. Domaine du Vissoux is a producer capable of fashioning such wines. This is why their wines can be found in many of Frances finest restaurants and why Vissoux remains the highest-rated Beaujolais producer in the leading French wine guide, Les Meilleurs Vins de France. Owners Pierre-Marie and Martine Chermette were among the first in Beaujolais to use sustainable agricultural practices, shunning the use of any chemicals in the vineyard and encouraging as much life in the soil as possible. They prune hard to keep yields low, harvest by hand when the grapes are fully ripe and regularly carry out green harvests to further reduce the yields and ensure full ripeness for the harvest. The wines are made with minimal intervention: wild yeasts, minimal sulphur additions and no filtering if possible. Ageing is in traditional up-to-the-ceiling, neutral oak casks."

DOMAINE RAPHAEL CHOPIN Beaujolais Villages 'La Savoye' Lantignie

Out of the shadow and into the light steps our Ombre Gamay; ready and poised to take centre stage. Historically cast in the shadow of its varietal neighbour Pinot Noir, Gamay is enjoying a timely moment in the sun. Vibrant in hue and exuberant in youthful personality, this wine delivers juicy red berry fruits on the nose with subtle spice and fine tannins on the palate.