2008 Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Brouilly Pierreux

Pierre-Marie Chermette is located in the hamlet of Le Vissoux in the southern Beaujolais region. With his wife Martine, Pierre-Marie owns and operates Domaine du Vissoux. The estate has been in existence since the 17th century, and Pierre-Marie’s family has been involved in winemaking in the region for generations. Pierre-Marie studied oenology at the University of Dijon before devoting himself full time to the family estate. Over the years the couple has acquired vineyards throughout the Beaujolais region, and they were among the first in the area to use sustainable agricultural practices. The estate makes red and white wines, and has been complimented in the New York Times and elsewhere for raising the quality of winemaking in Beaujolais. Wine Advocate has noted that “Chermette has successfully expanded from his base in southern Beaujolais without quality in any way suffering; on the contrary his mastery of the northern Beaujolais crus is now also a fait accompli.”

Brouilly is the largest of the Beaujolais Cru appellations with 3,000 acres of vineyards. Unlike most of the other Beaujolais Crus, Brouilly is not a specific village. It surrounds the Côte de Brouilly appellation on three sides and in some years nearly 800,000 cases of wine are produced. The region is named for Mount Brouilly, an extinct volcano, and the name comes from “brûlé,” meaning burnt. As in virtually all of Beaujolais, the grape grown here is Gamay.

The Gamay grape produces a light, versatile and food-friendly wine. It is best known for making Beaujolais Nouveau, but it is also grown in Loire and Tours. Thankfully the 14th C. Duke of Burgundy’s degree to ban the grape did not spread through all of France.