Yohan Lardy Fleurie 'Le Vivier' 2022
The Wine
This wine is made from 100% Gamay grapes, sourced from vines aged between 40 and over 70 years, located on a half-hectare plot with southeast exposure known as 'Le Vivier' – characterized by sandy soil atop blue granite. The vines thrive at an elevation of 250 meters, yielding 40 hectoliters per hectare. The grapes are handpicked and undergo whole cluster carbonic maceration for roughly 18 days in concrete vats with native yeasts. Post-malolactic fermentation, the wine matures on lees for several months, followed by an 8-month aging period in neutral oak barrels. Before bottling, the wine is lightly filtered without fining, and a minimal addition of 2 grams per hectoliter of SO2 is made.
This beguiling Fleurie exemplifies the appellation - characteristically delicate, but with full round flavours penetrating ever crevasse of the palate! Super attractive red fruits, floral notes, and a subtle hint of cinnamon spice and an every so small glimpse of wildness. So glugable with accompanying complexity - what more could you want from a Beaujolais!
The Details
Variety - Gamay
Country - France
Region - Beaujolais
Sub Region - Fleurie
Extra - Cork
Year - 2022
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker
Yohan represents the fifth generation of his family to cultivate wine in Beaujolais, with 2012 marking the debut vintage under his personal label. He employs organic methods in his vineyards, plowing between rows and vines to eliminate the need for herbicides. The biodiversity he fosters negates the necessity for insecticides. All vineyard tasks, including the harvest, are performed by hand. In the winery, whole-cluster fermentation occurs naturally in concrete or polyethylene tanks, lasting up to three weeks, without the addition of SO2. His Cru wines are then matured in seasoned Burgundy barrels for eight to ten months.
Yohan also produces micro-cuvées from small parcels in Fleurie, where he resides, as well as in Chenas and Beaujolais-Villages. The Fleurie 'Les Viviers,' spanning just 0.5 hectares, resulted in slightly fewer than 170 cases in 2016. The Chenas comes from a tinier 0.22-hectare plot, producing very small clusters of berries, with just over 100 cases bottled in 2016. Additionally, there's "The Poppy," Yohan's Vin de France Gamay, derived from Beaujolais-Village and a bit from Moulin-a-Vent, yielding a vibrant, aromatic wine that epitomizes gamay. A little over 200 cases were produced in 2016.
However, Yohan's crown jewel is the 1-hectare Moulin-a-Vent "Les Michelons" vineyard. Its most distinguished offering is the "Vieilles Vignes de 1903" cuvée, made from vines planted by the previous owner's grandfather. This Cru Beaujolais is designed for maturation, requiring time to meld its robust structure and rich substance. It reveals that beneath Yohan's youthful vigor lies a serious and exceptionally skilled winemaker, whose evolution promises to be immensely rewarding to observe over the coming years.