Château de La Chaize, Beaujolais, makes stunning debut at JN Wine Tasting in Cork's Hayfield Manor

Château de La Chaize, Beaujolais, makes stunning debut at JN Wine Tasting in Cork's Hayfield Manor

Albane, with Richard of JN Wine.

Great to chat with Albane Lussat, Head of Sales at the fabulous Château de La Chaize (in the southern part of Beaujolais) at this week's JN Wine tasting in Hayfield Manor. It was her first visit to Cork and she explained that this is their first year with James Nicholson Wines. As we spoke, I tasted five of the wines, one white (2024), the others red (all 2023) except for the amazing 2020 Clos de La Chaize, a monopole*.

As Albane said the Gamay grape is not really associated with ageing but this wine certainly indicates that it may well have more potential than previously thought. The fruit comes from the small clos** which is just behind the chateau and was laid out around the same time that La Chaize was built. The plot is exposed to the East and gets the sun early. Its granite soil, that the Gamay grape loves, gives elegance and length to the wines.

The wine is not produced every year. The winemaker waits for a good one and then selects the very best of the fruit. While the first four wines were started in stainless steel, the Clos was in concrete. It then spent twenty months in oak and the results are stunning.

I had started with the easy-drinking Beaujolais Blanc (2024). It is 100% Chardonnay (as you’d expect here). My first bottle was a delightful indication of the quality to come.

The first of the reds was the Fleurie lieu dit "La Chapelle Des Bois” 2023. Small single plots provided the fruit here. It is organic. The 9 months in large casks has added complexity but, as Albane pointed out, there is no impact from the wood on this delightful red. Fleurie is one of my favourite crus in the area and this is likely to become my favourite Fleurie.

The reds continued to impress. I had their Brouilly Lieu-dit "La Chaize"  Monopole (2023) now in hand. Fifteen months in oak, large vats again, had added even more complexity. The fruit, raspberries and cherries, subtle rather than blatant, but it has lightness and freshness. One to note!

Then we were on to their Côtes de Brouilly Lieu-dit “Chavennes” 2023. The small parcel, at a height of 500m, is composed of pink granite and also blue volcanic soil. The wine is aged for 18 months, again in large casks (foudres). Fruity aromas follow through to the well balanced palate and there’s a lengthy finish. A beautiful expression of the Gamay. 

Château de La Chaize, has been a family-run wine-producing estate for 350 years! Jules Hardouin-Mansart was engaged to build the chateau. He was Louis XIV’s favourite architect and the man behind the most famous architectural creations of the king’s reign. An icon of French Classicism during the late 17th century, his work included the Trianon at Versailles. Construction of La Chaize began in 1674. It is now classified as a French Historic Monument.

* A walled area.

**In wine, monopole in wine refers to a vineyard or an entire appellation controlled exclusively by a single winery or owner. A monopole can be large or small and that one winemaker controls everything from farming to bottling. 

Bloom, the tasting venue in the Hayfield Manor.

Welcome to the Hayfield Manor.