Pre-order - Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais Villages Nouveau 2022

Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and now stewarded by the fourth-generation Drouhin family, built its reputation on a singular rule: the portfolio stays within Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and — as a deliberate exception — Gamay for Beaujolais. This Beaujolais Villages Nouveau is that exception made tangible. The 2022 growing season delivered a hot, dry summer across Beaujolais, producing phenolically ripe fruit with concentrated colour and forward aromatics — conditions that amplify the juicy, carbonic character that defines Nouveau. Drouhin's winemaking philosophy, overseen by Véronique Boss-Drouhin, applies the same low-intervention discipline here as across the Grand Cru range: indigenous yeasts, minimal manipulation, and bottling at natural ABV. Nouveau vinification relies on whole-cluster carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration to extract bright fruit and soft tannin without prolonged skin contact — a technique diametrically opposite to the pigeage-and-open-vat approach used for the house's Côte de Nuits reds. What distinguishes this expression is provenance: a négociant-domaine that holds Chambertin-Clos de Bèze and Musigny applying its biodynamic sourcing standards to a wine designed to be drunk within weeks of harvest. The 2022 vintage character — ripe, generous, and precise — makes this an unusually structured Nouveau with more grip than the category typically delivers. Drink immediately through early 2024.