Lafarge Vial

From 45-year-old vines, this sees 30% whole-bunch and is aged in 350-litre casks. This wine is available again after last year’s miniscule harvest, thankfully yielding 32hl/ha this year, which is still by no means generous. Chiroubles is one of the lighter crus. The wine is very prettily perfumed, the palate crunchy and rewarding. Drink 2021-2025.

A vineyard on blue granite, there was 30% whole-bunch this year, with the balance manually de-stemmed and aged in big 30-hectolitre foudres. This is a serious wine all round, with a deep, spicy, earthy nose in which you can really sense the cool granite that, in turn, defines the palate. A wine of soil more than fruit. Drink 2022-2030.

Last year this cuvée had to be blended with other lieux-dits after the ruinous hail, but is back in its own right this year. Biodynamic from 2018, this still only gave 15hl/ha. The wine has 20% whole-bunch and was aged in 350-litre barrels. It has plenty of Beaujolais sapidity, but with dimension. Nicely done. Drink 2021-2026.

This exceptionally steep vineyard, with half of it on a 40% slope, has to be ploughed by horse. A quarter of the grapes were manually de-stemmed. The bouquet is dramatic, intensely perfumed and with pure notes of blackcurrant coulis. No wine at all was made in 2017. Drink 2021-2027.