Domaine Croix-Charnay
Beaujeu, Beaujolais

In the rolling hills of northwest Beaujolais sits the small commune of Beaujeu, where winemakers Iris Mauclert and Wincent Lebègue have settled in a beautiful old farmhouse and cellar just a few kilometres from their vines in Morgon and Chiroubles. After years living in Paris, Iris and Wincent left their careers, she in publishing and he in the performing arts, to explore new forms of creativity through nature. After graduating from oenology school in Beaune and working with winemakers Antoine Foucault and Cyril Fhal, they found themselves drawn to the wilds of Beaujolais.

With just under 2 hectares of vines aged between 30 and 60 years old, theirs is a very small project, focused on capturing the pure brilliance of Gamay and the diverse terroir of the Beaujolais. All their work in the vines is organic at a minimum, with a philosophy founded on cultivating a thriving ecosystem of plants, animals and insects in harmony with the vines. All the parcels are goblet-trained and worked by manual plough for minimal disturbance of the soil. Following the moon cycles, the grapes are harvested by hand and left to cool in the naturally stone-cooled cellar. At this lower temperature, the grapes macerate for about two to three weeks in whole-cluster and infusion styles. After décuvage and pressing, the wine is moved into old 225-litre barrels in a separate cellar, where it will rest until it is ready, for anywhere from 6 to 18 months.

In meeting Iris & Wincent, it was impossible not to be drawn towards their effortlessly creative energy as they spoke about their wines. Both exude confident curiosity mixed with a practical nature that spills into their philosophy on viticulture. The wines are rooted in this collective energy as pure expressions of terroir and vintage. We are thrilled to be able to share the wines of Domaine Croix-Charnay for the first time in the UK.