FLEURIE

This superstar estate is making wines that are simply a joy for canny Beaujolais lovers. The estate predates the creation of 'Fleurie' as an appelation and proudly carries the same label from the early 1900s. Rich, purple ruby red colour in the glass; violet and raspberry scented. The crisp, bright palate shows enticing spice and gorgeous red fruit flesh with texture and a smartly lifted finish.L&S (Sept 2019)

Looking over my past MoneyWeek recommendations, I noticed that this very wine, albeit the 2010 vintage, appeared on this page back in 2011. La Roilette is, without a doubt, one of my favourite red wines in the world. It ticks an amazing number of boxes, not least its epic flavour year in year out, its stunning value for money, its vast food and wine-matching skills, its popularity on the very best restaurant wine lists, giving all-comers a genuine place of refuge (often between the £40 and £50 mark, which is virtually impossible to find these days) and also the fact that it is one of the truly great Beaujolais. Clos de la Roilette, while situated in Fleurie, sits smack on the border of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation. It is named after a racehorse, Roilette, whose rather sketchy, donkey-like image is depicted on the label. Planted with vines aged between 30-80 years old this is, however, a thoroughbred wine and it manages to summon up both the floral beauty of a blushing Fleurie while possessing the deeper, throbbing, horsepower of a Moulin-à-Vent. This gives Roilette the rare attribute of drinking exceedingly well in its youth but also being able to hold on for an age, which is useful if odd bottles get mislaid in your cellar. I have stumbled across ten-year-old versions of this charming nag and they always taste incredible. Grab a case of this pedigree specimen and you will be amazed at the breeding on displayMatthew Jukes, Moneyweek (Nov 2019)

Shimmering violet. Highly perfumed dark berry and floral aromas are complemented by suggestions of exotic spices and minerals. Sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering black raspberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors that are given spine by a core of juicy acidity. In a seamless, energetic style, displaying a suave blend of richness and finesse and finishing gently sweet and impressively long, with well-knit tannins and lingering florality. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 93 Josh Raynolds, www.vinousmedia.com (Oct 2019)