2020 Gamay sur Volcan, Les Vins de la Madone, Gilles Bonnefoy, Côtes du Forez

The Côtes du Fôrez lies on an ancient geological fault line near the source of the Loire Valley, in France`s Massif Central. The Gamay grape thrives in the volcanic soils here, and it is this potential that Gilles Bonnefoy saw in the mid 1990s, when he set up his estate ` Les Vins de la Madone.` He now cultivates 8 hectares, which he converted to organic farming in 2001, and biodynamics in 2009. This vibrant 2020 Gamay Sur Volcan bursts with life. Colour is vivid ruby-purple, with perfumed red and black cherry aromas. The palate is medium bodied, rich and pure, with excellent depth of flavour and a spritely, harmonious finish.

“A gamay that is not from Beaujolais but the old volcanic terrain of the Côtes du Forez, an appellation in central France close to the source of the Loire. Smooth, almost impossibly juicy and brimful with the flavours of squished berries.”

Victoria Moore in www.telegraph.co.uk, 13th June 2021