Easily the Most Complex Inexpensive Wine We Sell - Beaujolais Made Using Burgundian Techniques

It's the only way to describe it. It's the Monfortino of Gamay. Clos de Mez is perhaps the most

polarizing wine in all of Beaujolais besides Jules Desjourney but for vastly different reasons. Desjourney wines dial up the extract and oak to 13 and blind you'd think they are Perrot-Minnot or Harlan. At Clos de Mez, Marie-Elodie makes her wines exactly like they make wines where she lives, which is Vosne Romanee in Burgundy. These are wines that demand aging to show the magic. And they are magical. But it takes time. Throw everything you know out the window about what you know about Beaujolais and everything you know out the window you know about pricing as it is commensurate to quality. The 09, 07 and 06 are the vintages to drink now. 10, 11, 12, 13, and today a new 14 all need years. I think ten years from vintage date is a good time to start drinking these. The Beaujolais geeks on the list are well aware of the iconic Clos de Mez wines made by Marie-Elodie.  Marie-Elodie is married to the owner of Confuron-Cotetidot in Vosne-Romanée. Customers initially bought the wines after Jeremy Seysses (who cellars the wines in his personal collection) recommended them to me.  Now, they buy them because the wines are complex, unique and ageworthy.  Marie-Elodie uses the Burgundian elevage method rather than the more common method in Beaujolais (carbonic maceration) as it crates more "Burgundian" wines that can be more serious (they certainly are in her case).  She releases her wines after they have aged enough to be at the beginning of their drinking windows.  They should cost in the $40-$50 range like our other top end, single vineyard Beaujolais but I get charged what I get charged and mark them up a little and they cost half of that.

The first wine is the 2014 Clos de Mez Morgon "Chateau Gaillard" which can be had for $22.99 each on a 4-pack.  This remains to this day and since the day we opened the most serious inexpensive wine we sell. Both of these wines also are the most inexpensive age-worthy wines we sell as well.  I think Marie-Elodie is by far the most slept on producer in all of Beaujolais.  Last time I tasted there, none other than Michel Bettane (the Alan Meadows of France) showed up for the tasting and the dinner. He is very close friends with Marie Elodie and her husband who owns the great estate in Vosne-Romanee, Confuron-Coteidot.  Bettane is a huge fan of Marie-Elodie's stunning Beaujolais. I believe the 14's are the best she's made even surpassing the brilliant 2010's. These have structure to burn, nuclear levels of dark, juicy and ripe fruit, super minerally dense tannins and finishes that don't quit. Insane inner mouth floral aromas and nuance for days after they have been opened for a few hours or a few days. The 2014 Morgon shows gorgeous dark fruit aromas, with seductive mineral and cooling tones on the nose but also loads of earth and bark. It's deep, wafting, so pure and complex. The palate is classic explosive Clos du Mez Morgon (but even more amplified), with tiny dark black and red fruits hitting your palate in waves with a distinctly rocky, cooling minerality. Velvety tannins throughout coat the palate with the juicy, vivid pure fruit. The finish suggest a long life ahead and saturates with tannin, fruit and granite vibes. I think this will be at its best starting in 2021 or so. Then will improve and last to 2038-2040. No joke.

I bring up Vosne-Romanee and also Hermitage and Cote-Rotie for a reason as I introduce the second wine which is the 2013 Clos du Mez Fleurie "La Dot" for as little as $22.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a STUPID bargain. This is the longest aging wine in Beaujolais. I've heard and read other people say it and the night I was there last March, a famous French wine critic agreed with me on that point. I just had a bottle of 2008 (not a great vintage) and it was rocking and improved for 4-5 days! On day 2-3 it was utterly compelling and was like a blend of aged Cote-Rotie aromas (Beaujolais is in the Valle de Rhone) and spicy Vosne-Romanee character but also had a cool, dark mashed flower element which is unusual as Fleurie, to me is more Violets and roses. This is just one of the ways Marie-Elodie's wines are captivating for their uniqueness. This 2013 Fleurie starts off with just compelling aromas. Mashed flowers, spice, menthol, dark berry fruit, stony minerality and just nuance after nuance. Air is this wine's bestie. It changes and changes. Eventually a perfume develops that is just incredible. But the palate is really the star of the show. Juicy, deep with enormously ripe tannins and just extreme levels of sweet fruit. Elegant and so deep, that this is like if they made Gamay in Hemitage. This is such a stupid deal I can't get over it. The finish is a symphony of deep fruit, spice, minerals and sweet tannins. Incredible and the best wine I've ever had from Marie-Elodie.

2014 Clos de Mez Morgon "Chateau Gaillard" - $24.99 ($91.96 4-pack) 

2013 Clos de Mez Fleurie "La Dot" - $24.99 ($91.96 4-pack)