2011 Fleurie Cuvée Tradition
- Producer:
- Domaine de la Madone
Tasting note
Deeply purple, floral with a hint of violets, gentle, delicate and elegant. A delightful style of Fleurie.
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Producer: Domaine de la Madone
Maryse and Jean-Marc Despres have a small but valuable Domaine on the upper slopes of La Madone where they cultivate 13 hectares of vines. They also have a cellar just below Chapelle de la Madone, the renowned symbol of Fleurie that sits above the village. Jean-Marc is the fifth generation of winemakers and his son Arnaud is the sixth who has inherited a neighbouring Domaine, named rather unromantically after an electric pylon!
Although the Despres are modern wine makers, with a fantastic new winery to boot, their wine making is influenced by local traditional philosophies.
These include not bottling their wine until the moon is on the wane, because it is believed that the phases of the moon influence the activity of the yeast in the wine and these become less active when it is on the wane. Jean Marc believes these traditional methods enhance the wine as is illustrated by the intensity of colour and fullness of fruit of their fine Fleurie wines.
Other wines
by this producer
2009 Fleurie Vieilles Vignes
More infoFleurie
- Area cultivated:
- 900 hectares under vine with 180 growers
- Average annual production:
- 5,370,000 bottles
- AOC decree:
- 11th September 1936
The vineyards of Fleurie are the heart of the Beaujolais Crus and spread through 13 different “climats” each producing a different style of wine. From North to South these vineyards are Les Labourons, Poncié, Les Moriers, La Roilette, Les Garants, Montgenas, La Madone, La Joie de Palais, Grille Midi, La Chapelle des Bois, La Cote, Le Bon Cru and Champagne and these individual names are often featured on bottles of Fleurie.
The village is open and always active and totally dominated by the Church in which one would think the whole of Beaujolais would have room to worship. Overlooking the village is Chapelle de la Madone, a small chapel built in 1866 and a landmark that can be seen for miles and rises to a height of 450m. In fact you can see all 10 Beaujolais Crus appellation from this spot.
La Madone is worshipped today for protecting the vineyards, but a local myth reports that in her early years she also protected the local villagers by halting the advancing Prussian army on the adjacent hill in 1870, by 'putting the wind up them' (pétoche) and is known as the statue 'La Dame de la Pétoche'!
Fleurie is the best known of all the Crus because the attractive and springlike name so aptly matches the wine which is feminine, smooth and elegant, in a way that has earned itself the title of Queen of Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent being the King. A good Fleurie should be very floral in style with a bouquet that suggests irises, violets and roses and is generally produced in the vineyards above the village, with fuller bodied wines produced on the lower slopes below.
