No Printemps, No Ultime - Just VV
2012 Yvon Métras Fleurie
Vieilles Vignes
Like in Burgundy, you can expect two things from 2012 Beaujolais: great wines and super-limited quantities.
Metras' line-up in 2012 dramatizes this. There's no Ultime or Printemps. From Fleurie, there's just Fleurie VV and not a ton of that.
The deal with Yvon Métras is simple: he makes benchmark Beaujolais and he hates paperwork. Numerous U.S. importers have tried to convince Métras to indulge in the paperwork necessary for importation, but to no avail.
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This makes his wines nearly impossible to find this side of the Atlantic. When wine geeks land in Paris, they immediately seek out Métras, Houillon/Overnoy and a couple of others.
For those of you who haven't experienced Métras, the wines are incredibly, uniquely impressive. In terms of younger Beaujolais, say in their first three or five years, Métras has given me more impressive and delicious bottles than anyone else. (Foillard would be second and Roilette demands some patience.)
Métras' wines are all about their suave texture and the beautifully expressive mix of granite, flowers and dark fruits. Many people have mentioned that the textural element in Metras wines' is reminiscent of the wines of the late and great Henri Jayer.
When you taste Métras' wines, you sense an extra level of complexity and a mysterious dimension of meaty and savory notes that the majority of Beaujolais simply doesn't have. Métras' Fleuries feel like archetypes of the appellation, but at the same time they're elevated to a plane where they have few peers.
In Fleurie, Métras farms the Grille-Midi and La Madone: both are top sites in prime, steep and very sunny climats. They are situated in the sandy, pink granite soils that yield a very classically feminine style of Fleurie that's earned the title "the Queen of Beaujolais."
His Fleurie VV is sourced from both these vineyards, from vines ranging from 70-100 years of age. It offers a gorgeously perfumed nose of violets, crushed rock, smoke, and a combination of red and purple fruits.
2012, quantities notwithstanding, was a stellar vintage for Métras. The wines hit a simple, but elusive, equation: there's concentration, clarity and length. Métras' 2012 Fleurie VV shows incredible energy and rigor with a saturating intensity,
It's worth repeating: 2012 Métras Fleurie VV is extremely limited. Please give us your maximum order and we'll do our best.
To place your order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
2012 Yvon Métras
Fleurie Vieilles Vignes