Domaine de Colonat Fleurie Vieilles Vignes 2023

The Gamay Noir vines grow at the foot of ‘La Madone’ hill at 425 metres elevation on a south-easterly facing slope. The plot is protected from northerly winds from the chain of the Avenas, Durbize, and Labourons mountains, creating an ideal microclimate. The soil is made of granite rock and sand which allows the Gamay fruit to ripen and develop good structure. The steep slopes are the best terroirs, but they are also the most difficult to cultivate as the layer of soil is very thin, sometimes only several centimetres of topsoil, so avoiding soil erosion is of paramount importance. The vineyard is certified HVE and they promote a balanced eco-system; herbicides and pesticides are not employed, and only small, light vehicles are used to climb the steep terrain, reducing the impact on the terroir. The grapes are hand-harvested.

The grapes were manually sorted and 90% were destemmed, leaving a proportion of grapes with stems for complexity and structure. Temperature controlled fermentation took place in concrete tanks with selected local yeast, which has been selected from the Gamay grapes in the vineyard. A slow and gentle extraction of fine tannins took place, with a soft maceration with few pump-overs lasting around 10 days. The Fleurie was matured in concrete tanks on the fine lees for six months to retain the vibrancy and purity of fruit.