# Le Clos de Valentin (2023)

- **Producer:** Château de Vaux / Yannick de Vermont
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Gamay
- **Region:** Beaujolais, France
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €19
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 13–15 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, blackberry, plum, rose, blackcurrant

## About this wine

Le Clos de Valentin is a deeply personal single-vineyard cuvée from Château de Vaux, named after Yannick and Sandrine de Vermont’s son, Valentin. The de Vermont family has farmed these lands in Vaux-en-Beaujolais for five generations. In the 1920s, Yannick’s great-grandfather, Louis de Vermont, made history as one of the first growers in Beaujolais to estate-bottle and sell his wines directly. Yannick took over the domain in 2014, continuing a legacy of terroir-driven, minimal-intervention winemaking in this historic high-altitude estate.

## Interesting facts

- Named after the winemaker's son, Valentin, this cuvée represents the crown jewel of the estate's high-altitude plots.
- The vines are planted on a vertiginous, steep hillside featuring an extreme 60% slope of schist and granite.
- The grapes are harvested from 75-year-old ancient vines (Vieilles Vignes) within a historic 12th-century walled clos.

## Food pairing

This high-altitude Gamay balances rich, dark fruit intensity with a striking mineral acidity and fine-grained tannins. It pairs beautifully with classic Lyonnais bistro dishes, where the wine's acidity cuts through the richness of pork, duck, and charcuterie, while its structured body stands up to savory poultry and medium-aged cheeses.

## Wine making process

The wine is crafted from 75-year-old ancient vines grown on a steep 60% schist slope. Vinification involves 75% to 85% destemming depending on the vintage, followed by traditional semi-carbonic maceration using 100% natural indigenous yeasts to elevate aromatic purity. To preserve the crisp mineral tension and precise Gamay fruit profile, the wine is aged strictly in temperature-controlled tanks and vats without any oak influence. It is bottled with minimal filtration and an exceptionally low micro-dose of sulfur.