THE FRENCH DISPATCH 🏖️

What’s up winos,

Megan here, back from a very impromptu hop over to the fairer side of Europe. Predictably boozy, hectic and mental but also, ya know, productive (I promise, Dan!).

Our own Rémi Dufaitre hosted a salon at his winery on Monday and we jumped at the chance to head over there. Not only because Rémi has friends in high places (met L’Anglore and Derain, to name-drop a few), but because any chance to spend time at his beautiful winery and taste his juicy bottlings is a chance I’m going to take.

The sun was shining and the birds were singing (a little too loudly for our fragile, hungover heads) so we decided to walk the hour to the domaine. Brouilly being a pretty small town, I thought word would spread quickly that three idiot foreigners were walking along the side of the road swigging beer at 11am, and I was only slightly disappointed that we didn’t get picked up by the police.

We made it in one piece and immediately made a beeline for Rémi’s station. The wines were all tasting absolutely cracking, so if you haven’t got around them yet, now the sun’s out, there’s no excuse. All the reds do beautifully with a little chill on them, and his Beaujolais Blanc is another example of why you shouldn’t be sleeping on this style, so often relegated to the realm of the afterthought.

We spent a little time with Mosse (Fionn spent a LOT of time with Mosse later on, leaving me alone at the dinner table eating my still-mooing steak for what felt like an hour as he chewed his ear off outside) tasting through their crackling Chenins, then headed over to see Cambon, whose top cuvee is maybe my favourite red wine I’ve ever tasted? Not in the UK tho, sorry about it, but his entry levels aren’t to be sniffed at either. We also had the chance to taste through the whole Dutraive range, which are a great option if you like your Beaujolais on the classic, fuller bodied side. Checked out the wines from Derain as well, maybe Fionn’s all time favourite, and Julien was such a treat - maybe you should meet your heroes, after all? - and then of course got in some face time with L’Anglore. You’ll notice I haven’t linked that one, coz obvi they’re impossible to get in the UK, so we hung around his station for far too long, hoping to get a second taster.

After the tasting the evening segued into a long, boozy dinner (at which we were conspicuously the only non-French people, perhaps the reason why the seats either side of us were left empty, lol) and then we jumped in a taxi to get some much needed shut eye.

The next day was a predictably slow start, but we eventually made our way over to Domaine Valma. Perhaps forgetting that we weren’t still in London, we thought that the wait time for an Uber would be somewhere in the realm of five minutes, but it turned out to be more like four hours, so Stéphane kindly came and picked us up before driving us over to La Madone, one of their stunningly beautiful sites. We headed back to the winery to try the ‘24s from barrel, which are tasting R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. There’ll be a bit of a wait on those, but worry not - the ‘23s are also absolutely singing right now, and they’re in the warehouse just waiting for you to come grab ‘em. There’s the new cuvee for this year, Face B from a northwest facing plot so it’s extra fresh, La Madone, complex, herbal and vibrant, Les Labourons, their supposed ‘entry-level’ which drinks like a dream, and Les Rangs Tard, a slightly later-ripening plot that’s concentrated and aromatic. Fionn and Jaime then went off to Manuel Girard, where apparently he opened every single vintage of every single wine he’s ever made, while I headed to the airport (somebody’s gotta pack those orders, amirite?).

That’s all for now, I need to go put my brain in the washing machine and see if that’ll finally get rid of this hangover. Pray 4 me.

xoxo

Megan