
In
the hamlet of Le Breuil, deep in the southern Beaujolais and perched above a
narrow creek, the Domaine Dupeuble has been running almost continuously since
1512. The name of the domaine has changed just three times in its history, most
recently when the last heir, Anna Asmaquer, married Jules Dupeuble in 1919.
Today their grandson Damien manages the domaine along with his wife, brothers,
sons, and daughter. Kermit first met Damien for lunch in Paris in the late
1980s, and thus began the annual tradition of blending the KLWM Beaujolais
Nouveau.
Tradition runs deep in the
family, but each generation has also managed to add something new, including
increasing the property. Today it is comprised of one hundred hectares, about
forty percent of which is consecrated to vineyards. Strong advocates of the lutte raisonnée approach to vineyard
work, they tend their vines without the use of any chemicals or synthetic
fertilizers. The vineyards, planted primarily to Gamay, face Southeast, South,
and Southwest, and about two thirds of the property is on granite-based soil.
The grapes are harvested manually and vinified completely without SO2.
The wines are not chaptalized, filtered, or degassed and only natural yeasts
are used for the fermentation. The wines of Dupeuble represent some of the best
values in the Beaujolais today and are widely regarded for their very high
quality and eminently reasonable price.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
| Wine |
Blend |
Vine Age |
Soil Type |
Vineyard Area* |
Beaujolais Blanc
|
Chardonnay |
N/A |
Clay, Limestone |
2 ha |
Beaujolais Nouveau
|
Gamay |
50 - 100 years |
Granite, Clay, Limestone |
42 ha |
Beaujolais Rouge
|
Gamay |
50 - 100 years |
Granite, Clay, Limestone |
42 ha |
"ha"=hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres
VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION
• Vines are fertilized
with natural compost
• Yields are severely
limited by both pruning and green harvest, even for the grapes that go into the
Nouveau
• Grapes are harvested
manually and vinified without SO2
• Wines are fermented
naturally and aged in cement and stainless steel
• All reds are fermented using
carbonic maceration
• Beaujolais Blanc grapes are cold-stabilized, pressed, and held in cuve at cold
temperatures. Wine is then racked and left to ferment at its own pace
•
Beaujolais Nouveau fermentation
lasts 5 days
•
Beaujolais Rouge fermentation lasts 8 – 12 days
• All wines are bottled
unfiltered
MISCELLANEA
The Dupeuble Beaujolais towers majestically over every
other red on the market today yet retains the quaffable ‘légèreté’ we demand
from this monumental appellation. At the same time, how can one ignore its
eyeball-riveting color, its super concentrated body engorged with blackberries,
blueberries, raspberries, olallieberries, boysenberries, cinnamon, cherry pit,
violets, petunias, red currants, black currants and graham crackers? There is there, one might say, there.
Multi-layered layers of sublime simplicity, a blood-boiling aftertaste, this is
a palate hummer.
Kermit Lynch