A lovely 2009 Cru Beaujolais

Domaine Metrat & Fils La Roilette 2009 Fleurie

2009 was widely hailed as one of the great Beaujolais vintages, with a perfect growing season yielding wines of considerable fruit density and a good deal of richness, over and above the norm. And of the (admittedly few) 2009's I have tasted thus far, most have indeed been lovely, albeit in a fairly atypical way, because that richness - together with the correspondingly lower levels of acidity than normal - has made for wines rather more reminiscent of good Cotes du Rhone than "typical" Beaujolais. But here's one that really does tick all of the boxes, in terms of Beaujolais typicity, whilst still displaying the inherent generosity of the vintage. Although it is a somewhat deeper colour than the expected ruby red - in fact, more of a transluscent purple colour - the nose still offers a riot of summer fruits, in the way of wild strawberries, raspberries and red cherries, augmented by some enticing background notes of older wood and forest floor. The flavours are correspondingly fruity and ripe, but with real elegance and subtlety, which suggests to me that this winemaker really has got the measure of the vintage. For those ripe, fruity flavours are balanced beautifully by a hint of tannin and just the right level of juicy, mouth-watering acidity, making for a wine of considerable character, a good deal of complexity and a whole load of sweet-and-sour loveliness. Yum! In fact, double yum!