Georges Descombes Fleurie 'Vieilles Vignes' 2019

Descombes is one of the stalwarts of Beaujolais. Inspired by the late Marcel Lapierre in the early 1980s when he worked for his father’s bottling company. He is one of the more well-known of the natural producers since taking over the domaine in the hamlet of Vermont from his father in 1988, with all but a half a hectare to his name. Some refer to him as the unofficial fifth member of the “Gang of Four” (Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton). Nowadays, he farms selections in Brouilly, Régnié, Morgon, Beaujolais Villages, Beaujolais and Chiroubles, the vineyard husbandry organic (certified Ecocert) and using just copper and sulfur.” Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate Georges' wines are firmly in the "natural" camp and his farming is certified organic - not always the case among other natural producers in Beaujolais. Grapes are hand-harvested in whole clusters and pressed very slowly in an old vertical press with modern, precise pressure control, fermented with natural yeasts in a long, low temperature semi-carbonic maceration - minimal or zero sulfur is used, only before bottling. (Approximately 10 - 20 mg/L in 2018.) Descombes is a true master of this type of winemaking - starting of course with great farming, bringing out beautifully complex aromas and gorgeous fruit on the palate, undiminished by excess SO2, beautifully balanced, clean and long. In short, the Descombes wines are among the finest and most consistent in Beaujolais! Beaujolais in late January makes for an eerie landscape. The gray, cloudy skies are set against hectares of dead earth dotted with lines of stunted, gnarly vines, pruned down for the dormant stages of winter. In the morning, fog rolls over and down the hillsides and the wet clay sticks to your shoes with a vengence. It's a great time to see the stark differences between conventional and organic farming. Even in the cold of January, the vineyards of Georges Descombes have a bright, green ground cover with small flowers just beginning to bloom. His vines looked like they were still sleeping as the earth slowly wakes up. The conventional vineyards look just like the surface of the moon... This superb wine is from the famed Grille-Midi section of Fleurie - Yvon Metras has his vines here too.