From one parcel of vines belonging to Chantal Coudert and Eric Appert. Pretty, red-fruited scents - fraises des bois. Approachable palate of red cherries and strawberries. Charming, but with plenty of substance and acidity too for keeping. With Chantal and Eric we drank this with andouillettes, mild and loosely packed pork tripe sausages, and it was delicious - it would be excellent with any charcuterie as the acidity cuts the fat. Now-2016

Product Code: CHB109

“..rich and floral, as the name implies, and excellent value for £10.95”, Simon Hoggart in The Spectator, 5th August 2010.

The Coudert-Appert’s Fleurie is now firmly established as a favourite among our customers. Eric Coudert works in the vineyards and organises the harvest whilst Chantal, née Appert (qualified oenologist, sparky and energetic) controls the winery and sales.

They have 8.5 hectares in total from Chantal’s father, 8 in Fleurie and just half a hectare in Chiroubles. The Fleurie vineyards lie on the foothills of the massif, so tend to be well exposed, facing east to south-east. Soils in Fleurie are pale pink, arenitic, and lighter than in most of the Crus, perhaps explaining the grace of the wines. Chiroubles, just to the south-west and sharing its orientation, is less than half the size of Fleurie. The more sandy vineyards are the highest of the Crus, at 280-450 metres, and this tends to give freshness and bite to its pretty wines, which are otherwise similar in style to Fleurie.

As with M. Calot, the winemaking here varies: in 2009 about half was conventional, half carbonic maceration, but all the wine goes into the traditional large old oak foudres, large barrels, in the Beaujolais fashion; and all are bottled with minimal filtration to preserve texture.