2009 Gilles Gelin Beaujolais Villages
When we first met this wildly energetic young winegrower, on a one-day side trip from Nuits St. Georges in a 2009 tasting trip that won’t soon be forgotten, we could almost taste the energy that Gelin infuses into his wines. But in 2009, not withstanding Gelin’s electric discourse, his Beaujolais did all the talking.
Gelin’s 2009 Beaujolais Villages is beautiful ruby in color. The aromas are crushed raspberry-strawberry explosive, flavors wonderfully ripe and lively. But it’s the excellent structure of Gelin’s 2009 that really tells the story of the vintage, one in which the skin-to-juice ratio is high, infusing Gamay with Pinot-like structure and length. We drank the first bottle at lunch before we finished the first course. The second bottle barely carried us through the fermier St. Nectaire!
But all the journalistic hoopla and buzz in the cafes of Fleurie and Moulin-A-Vent won’t empty the cellars in this idyllic region, many of which (though not young Gelin’s!) are still full of 2008s. So despite the historic quality of the 2009s, there is virtually no inflation in Beaujolais. The 2009s are selling for roughly the same price as the pedestrian 2008s, and the unexciting 2007s. It’s a buyer’s bonanza. Don’t miss out.
Gilles Gelin sells most of his wine in France. But we were having none of that after our spring tasting in Lancie. 200 cases of this mouthwatering 2009 Beaujolais Villages have been shipped — refrigerated cellar-to-warehouse — for WineAccess members. At $14.50/bottle (on cases), stock up. After you taste bottle one, the next 11 won’t last long. Shipping included on 6 bottles or more.
