Aux Vergers 2023

Now running her family’s 7-hectare estate near Morgon’s famed “Côte du Py,” Cosima Bassouls is at the forefront of Beaujolais’ new generation. Trained in international agro-development, she initially pursued humanitarian work before returning to France. After working in organic and regenerative viticulture, she took over the estate following her mother’s passing, determined to farm on her own terms. Since 2019, she has converted all 6 hectares to organic farming, integrating agroforestry, cover crops, and regenerative techniques to foster biodiversity, combat erosion, and improve soil health. She’s also pioneering vine-training methods, replacing gobelet with cordon, training old vines on high stakes and braiding the vine tops instead of trimming them. Her family estate, Château des Vergers, dates to 1604 and has deep winemaking roots. Lantignié, where it’s located, boasts pink granite and volcanic blueschist soils, producing Gamay with great depth and complexity. Cosima also leads a movement advocating for Lantignié’s recognition as a Cru, with organic farming as the foundation. She and 18 fellow vignerons share resources and expertise, creating an exciting energy in the region.

Aux Vergers is a single vineyard at 400m, Cosima's favourite, planted with goblet-trained Gamay from the 1960s. The parcel has pierres bleues (blueschist) soils where the vines have direct access to the bedrock. Handpicked whole bunches in small crates and strict selection in the vineyard. The grapes undergo gentle, slow pressing using their centuries-old vertical press, which naturally leads to a clear must, eliminating the need for filtration or clarification. 12 days of whole-cluster, semi-carbonic maceration and fermentation starts with pied de cuve of native yeasts in neutral fiberglass containers. The wine spends 8-10 months in concrete vats.

Most famous for Beaujolais Nouveau – a wine bottle only a few weeks after fermentation and drank on the 3rd Thursday of November – Beaujolais is an intriguing wine region technically part of the Rhone commune, but has always been considered part of Burgundy. Reds here are made from 100% Gamay. Gamay produces light, fresh and floral red wines, similar in style to Pinot Noir. Most Beaujolais is produced using semi-carbonic maceration in which the grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide rich environment. This releases lots of colour and bright fruit characters without much tannic structure. Much of Beaujolais is granite with outcrops of schist in part of Morgon or Andesites in the Cote de Brouilly. In the Auvergne, gamay is planted on basalts and in the Côtes Roannaise there is again granite.