Lafarge Vial - Fleurie Joie du Palais 2018

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A View from the Cellar: 93 Points

The 2018 Joie du Palais from the Lafarge family also includes twenty-five percent whole clusters, with all of the destemming that was done of the remaining bunches having been done by hand! The bouquet is very pure and expressive out of the blocks, jumping from the glass in a mix of red plums, cherries, sweet cranberries, a fine base of soil, gamebird and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full and beautifully sappy at the core, with lovely mineral drive, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and vibrant finish. This is a gorgeous bottle in the making. (Drink between 2022-2045)

Wine Advocate: 93 Points

Beautifully vibrant and precise, the 2018 Fleurie Joie de Palais wafts from the glass with a pretty bouquet of raspberries, red plums, peonies and sweet soil tones. Medium to full-bodied, lively and elegant, it's built around fine, powdery tannins and a tangy spine of acidity. Built for the cellar, this will show beautifully after four or five years of bottle aging, and it will continue to improve for a decade or more. This 1.5-hectare parcel of steeply sloping decomposed pink granite was planted in the 1950s. The fourth vintage of Beaujolais newcomer Domaine Lafarge-Vial is a great success, and I found much to admire in all these new releases. Acquired in 2014 by Volnay's Frédéric Lafarge and his wife Chantal, née Vial, this four-hectare domaine is biodynamically farmed. The grapes are partially destemmed and fermented with punch-downs and pump-overs during the maceration, followed by pressing in a vertical press. Maturation is in well-used cooperage from the Domaine Lafarge in Volnay. The result is old-school cru Beaujolais, built to age. Any readers looking for Gamay that will converge with great Pinot Noir should look no further. (WK)