Slow fermented Gamay from 50 year-old vines, specially selected by Samantha Bailey for its gorgeous fruit character.
 
Production
Chénas is named after chênaies, the dense oak forests which blanketed the Beaujolais region before Philippe V ordered them all to be cut down to make room for vines. Today, the vineyards of Chénas cover just 237ha, making it the smallest of the Beaujolais Cru. Soils are mainly granite, with some areas of schist and fertile alluvial clay. Granite and Gamay go hand in hand - granite is rich in quartz but the soils are generally poor and drain really well (great for vines). Most importantly, when rain meets quartz the result is silicic acid, which is good for Gamay as it stimulates deep root growth and - counter intuitively - keeps grape acidity in check. Chénas is where Aimé Bataillard, founder of Château de Belleverne, first planted Gamay on quartz rich silex / limestone soils in the outskirts of the village of La Chapelle de Guinchay. Today the domaine, now run by Aimé’s sons Didier and Alain and grandson Michael, has 36ha in four of the ten Beaujolais Cru - Moulin-à-Vent, Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas – as well as Beaujolais Villages in the northern realms of the appellation. Vines are at least 50 years of age, produce yields way below the appellation standard and are managed following ‘High Environmental Value’ (HVE) principles; a certification Belleverne gained in 2018 to ‘a guarantee that the pressure applied to the environment by farming practices (on air, water, soil, climate, biodiversity and landscape) is kept to a minimum.’ Hand-harvested grapes are immediately cooled as they arrive at the cellar, following significant investment in cooling equipment. Didier and Alain increasingly de-stem the majority of the harvest to gain complexity without hard tannins. They prefer a semi-carbonic maceration, having mastered the technique of cooling the grapes in each of their concrete tanks to slow the process down. This slower fermentation, of between 10 and 13 days for each separately vinified parcel, together with twice daily remontage to fully submerge the cap and optimise the extraction of fruit and flavours, achieves a greater expression of fruit character in the final wine. Château de Belleverne produce this Chénas only for Boutinot; having worked with Samantha Bailey since 2014 the Bataillard’s now allow her crucial ‘first access’ to their cellar, to taste each and every cuvée before anyone else, when creating the blend for this exclusive Chénas.