A tale of two Beaujolais from the same vintage.
Jean-Claude Lapalu, Brouilly, 'la Croix des Rameaux', 2009 Not as 'lifted' as other 2009's, but could be due to the vintage. Comes off slightly flat, but has nice dark fruit, cassis, plum, slight iodine, a little volatile the first night, succulent granitic finish. Still youthful, this could easily go another 2-3 years. 13.5% A-/B+ Compared to Lapalu's Cote de Brouilly from the same year, this is much better structured and more gamay-like. The Cotes bottling really pushed the limits for gamay, coming across as more Rhone-like, showing goopy, plump, and sweet and something I would not want to age.