Iris Mauclert and Vincent Lebègue of Domaine Croix-Charnay are simply our heartfelt choices. From the very first time we met them, they showed spontaneity and kindness and their wines could only be in their image: accessible, sincere and generous.

However, nothing predestined them to become winemakers in the Beaujolais. After a first life in the world of culture, these two Parisians have, as they like to say, finally found a way to leave the capital by taking over this small estate of 1.5 hectares of Gamays nestled in the hillsides in 2018.

There, they cultivate the vines with the greatest possible respect for the living world: use of natural products for treatments, with the exception of minimal doses of sulphur and copper, grassed rows, soil worked with pickaxes and ploughs. This means that the surrounding landscape is sublime: a series of valleys intersect and overlap plane after plane. The plots of land are steep and stretch out. The vineyards on the slopes therefore have several advantages. Indeed, some of the grapes receive the morning sun while the others benefit from the evening sun. From this complementarity were born the two iconic cuvées of Iris and Vincent, “Au Couchant” and “Au Levant”.

The grapes are harvested by hand and in crates, with indigenous yeasts and “infusion” maceration, in order to reveal as much fruit as possible. The wines are pampered, monitored and tasted every day, without ever being subjected to any energy-consuming oenological process or input, with the occasional exception of sulphites in minimal doses if necessary.

Juicy, fleshy, real pleasure bottles that joyfully break down prejudices about Beaujolais wines.

[Photo credits 1,2 : Domaine Croix-Charnay]