Fleurie Les Moriers 2024

The Fleurie Les Moriers from Domaine Anita comes from one of the most renowned lieux-dits of the Fleurie appellation, in the heart of the Beaujolais crus, on the border with Moulin-à-Vent. Facing east, the plot lies at around 230 metres above sea level on granite soil, the emblematic rock of this cru. This terroir gives rise to a Gamay with floral and spicy aromas from its youth.

The plot is planted with young Gamay vines, around five years old, farmed with demanding work and controlled yields to obtain concentrated fruit. Like all the estate’s cuvées, this wine is vinified plot by plot by Anita Neveu herself, on a family estate farmed sustainably, in order to faithfully reveal the character of the lieu-dit.

This wine reveals notes of peony, violet, iris, raspberry, morello cherry, redcurrant, white pepper and clove. The granite gives the bouquet a floral and spicy expression, supported by crunchy red fruit. On the palate, the cuvée develops tannins of remarkable flavour and finesse, a silky texture and a fresh, delicately spiced finish.

The cradle of wine culture in Western Europe, France owes its first vines to the Greeks of Phocaea, who settled around Marseille some twenty-six centuries ago, before the Romans spread viticulture along the Rhône and the Garonne and as far as Champagne. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian and Benedictine monks cleared the slopes of Burgundy and patiently mapped out the climats, laying the foundations of the notion of terroir. The 19th century brought the glory of the classifications, then the disaster of phylloxera, which wiped out the vineyards before they were rebuilt on American rootstocks; the creation of the appellations d'origine contrôlée in the 1930s then set the rules that would inspire the whole world. Today, France vies every year with Italy and Spain for first place in world production by volume and remains the ultimate benchmark of the Old World, as much for its age-worthy wines as for its winemaking models. Vineyards cover almost the entire country, from the cool north of Champagne and Alsace to the Mediterranean shores of Languedoc and Provence, by way of the oceanic climates of Bordeaux, the Loire and the South-West, continental Burgundy, the steep slopes of the northern Rhône and the high-altitude valleys of Savoie and the Jura. This mosaic of soils – limestone, schist, gravel or rounded pebbles – explains the extraordinary diversity of styles. As for grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate Bordeaux and produce structured reds, Pinot Noir is the signature of Burgundian finesse, Syrah of the depth of the Rhône, while Grenache, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre cover every register, from easy-drinking wines to wines for long ageing. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Riesling and Viognier offer expressions ranging from lively and mineral to unctuous, all the way to great sweet wines. A land of benchmarks and constant discoveries, France remains the compass for wine lovers the world over.