Christophe Pacalet Côte de Brouilly

In the words of the Chinese thinker Confucius “food and drink and making love are the three major human desires”. The pleasure of eating and drinking has always been linked to moments of dedication and passion. So it is not surprising that several professional chefs are also wine lovers. So much so that some have left the kitchen to devote themselves fully to making fine wines. This is the story of Christophe Pacalet, a chef who, after 9 years in the kitchen, followed the advice of his uncle Marcel Lapierre (a renowned producer of natural wines in Beaujolais) and swapped his pots and pans for the vineyard in his native Beaujolais. Today Cristophe produces wines from different Crus like Chenas, Chiroubles, and Côte de Brouilly. He makes natural wines though minimum intervention to create the best expression of each terroir.

Within his collection, Christophe Pacalet Côte de Brouilly comes from carefully selected vineyards in the AOC Côte de Brouilly. This is the only one of the 10 Beaujolais crus to benefit from the 4 points on the compass and is characterised by its famous volcanic rocky soil, the so-called “blue stone”. A total of 0.7 hectares where the Gamay variety grows organically and with limited yields of 30-45 hectolitres/hectare. The grapes are harvested by hand and are transported in 25 kg boxes. When they reach the winery, they undergo a cold carbonic maceration in whole bunches without the use of SO2 for 10 to 20 days. After pressing, the resulting must is aged on lees in used 228-litre oak barrels for 6-9 months.

With Christophe Pacalet Côte de Brouilly, this former chef, who is passionate about his native land, shows us the most loving side of viticulture. Maximum respect that translates into a structured and elegant wine that can be enjoyed straight away but also ages beautifully.