2007 Charly Thevenet Régnié "Grain & Granite" 13.0%
If Gang of Five Beaujolais were a hip musical, Son of Gang of Five Beaujolais would be the sequel, with vignerons tap dancing on barrels and prancing in the vineyards, flexing their suspenders back n' forth, arms splayed like vines across each others' shoulders.
Since Thevenet's 04 Morgon VV was my all-time favorite Beaujolais, I was curious to try this offering from his son, in case he was a chip off the old block, or a clonal selection. But though the kid follows the same farming practices, he seems headed down a different path.
Deep cherry hue, with relatively subdued but classy berry aromas, closer to Bourgogne cherry than Beaujolais strawberry/raspberry. A hint of caramel, tar and very mild barnyard or brett that soon blows off. Nice, sharp acidity, underlined by good, strong yet discreet fruit. Tastes lovely and refined, and wears its relatively high alcohol with great comfort. Feels like it should age extremely well and be something special in two to four years. My only gripe would be insufficient Beaujolais tipicity, as if this were closer to a passe-tout-grain.
This was brought from NY last week, and is apparently immune to bottle shock, unless, of course, it was something quite different in NY a week ago, which I'll never know.