You have never tasted anything like them. With the Nodin Sparkling St. Peray yesterday and the '98 Muellen Auslese Trocken it might be unicorn wine week at Fass Selections.
The first wine is the 2011 Jean-Claude Lapalu Beaujolais-Villages "Rang du Merle" for as little as $31.99 on the 4-pack. This is his top of the line wine. His best cuvees are Beaujolais-Villages, which is highly unusual. It is from grapes picked 5 weeks after the normal harvest date from vines averaging 70-90 years of age. Clusters are selected and then hand-sorted. No addition of yeast, no chaptalization (adding sugar), semi-carbonic whole cluster fermentation at a low temperature to keep the natural aromas of the crystalized grapes. It is so delicious I cannot even begin to describe it. Fat in the mouth with sur-maturite flavors and totally hiding it's alcohol. The complexity here is remarkable and the finish is endless. This has fattened up since bottling and gained even more complexity. Huge berry fruit on the red/black/damson side with amazing tannins and crackling acidity and a finish that does not quit. One of the most unique wines in all of Beaujolais.
I also have the brilliant 2011 Jean-Claude Lapalu Brouilly "Cuvee Fous" for as little as $31.99 on a 4-pack, which is a brilliant tipple of Brouilly. Grown in granite soil this has loosened up since bottling when it was super tight. Brouilly, sometimes can be very tight when just bottled. This is from vines averaging 100 years of age! It is also bottled from grapes that are harvested after the normal harvest, like the Rang du Merle. This has extended maceration and is aged in a mix of old barriques and demi-muid. The palate is just ridiculously crazor. Yes, crazor. Oenophiles, just need to try Lapalu if they haven't and Lapalu lovers will for sure scoop these up. Now, talk about a palate staining, deep bottle of Brouilly the Cuvee Fous is it. Layered complexity and so many dark fruits as I love dark fruits in my Beaujoalis (see Clos de Mez), with some serious structure, but because of the extremely low sulfur added this wine should last through 2020 given its structure, but low sulfur can be a gamble for aging and this is a wine that has such exhilarating fruit that it might have to be drunk with abandon in its precocious youth.
I've always been a Lapalu fan. From his Beaujolais-Villages bottlings to his Brouillys there is no one that can match his high throttle Beaujolais. Even being high throttle, there is a level of finesse and restraint that just causes you to shake your head in amazement.
If there is one man who gets Lapalu more than any taster I know it is David Schildknecht. Below is a quote from David about the 2011 Lapalu wines. 2011 by the way in Beaujolais has gotten some mixed press over stateside but in France it is considered much better than 2012 and about even with 2010 and much better than 2009.
"Jean-Claude Lapalu (see my reports in Issues 190 and 196 for further details about his unusual ways) has scored some striking successes from the 2011 vintage, and any oenophiles who haven't experienced a Lapalu wine (very much including ones who don't think Beaujolais will excite them and who are therefore, unfortunately, unlikely to be reading this!) could scarcely pick a better time to do so. Most of this year's collection was bottled in July and weighs in at 13% or less alcohol, a relief after frequent "high-test" vintages here of late." - David Schildneckt
2011 Jean-Claude Lapalu Brouilly "Cuvee les Fous" - $34.99 ($127.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)
2011 Jean-Claude Lapalu Beaujolais-Villages "Rang du Merle" - $34.99 ($127.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)
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