Expertly crafted from Gamay grapes from the Beaujolais Cru of Chiroubles, this wine boasts a succulent, crunchy texture and powerful aromas of abundant primary fruit. With a rich, soft red berry flavour preserved by Carbonic Maceration, it's the ideal choice for your next Barbeque, perfectly paired with charcuterie or grilled chicken skewers.

About the Producer

Like all good stories, that of Boutinot France is both long and a little bit complicated! Boutinot began as a tiny importer in 1980, specialising in French wines. Paul Boutinot himself began by personally selecting the wines from France, back in the UK he would unload the trailer by hand. And deliver the crates of wines to customers himself. But good things grow and by the end of the decade they had become a bigger and better company. A company that not only sought out great wines but made them too. 10 years later, Boutinot France started in January 1990. The first office was in the middle of the vines in Julienas; perfectly located to navigate the Beaujolais and Macon regions on the quest to make beautiful wines..

Today, Boutinot’s French office has relocated to Macon, and has over 20 employees who take care of production across the whole of France, covering fresh whites and rosés from Gascony, mineral wines from Burgundy, and joyful varietal wines from Languedoc among others. There is no single model to source the wines; instead, a combination of sources are used, from large-scale, high-quality co-ops to small, family growers and single domaines, as well as their own vineyards in Cairanne and Saint-Vérand. Drawing on the expertise of their four in-house winemakers and a network of partner growers, they seek to deliver the highest quality-to-price ratio possible for every wine.

Vineyard and Winery

Chiroubles is the highest altitude sub-region in Beaujolais, producing some of the lightest but most invigorating wines.  The soils of the region resemble the sandiest areas of neighboring Fleurie.  Arguably the most authentically Beaujolais of all the crus, Chiroubles is generally best consumed while still young.

Gamay loves the granite/siliceous soils of the vineyards in the hills to the north west of Lyon in eastern France. Grapes were hand picked deliberately early to maintain freshness. In the cellar, they are vinified using traditional carbonic maceration techniques (where fermentation is started by the weight of berries in the vat, crushing those below) followed by a short cuvasion* to maintain the up front, juicy fruit character.

*cuvaison — the process by which wine gains colour, flavour, and tannins by leaving the juice in contact with the grape skins and pips during fermentation.

For centuries maligned, mistreated and misunderstood, Gamay was outlawed by Philip the Bold in 1395. Some vignerons rebelled, hiding forbidden Gamay vines amongst ‘noble’ Pinot Noir. In their honour this ‘release’ is of a deliberately disruptive Gamay, bottled without appellation and without rules!