Château Thivin's Cuvée Zaccharie is one of Beaujolais' unsung greats.

Along with Bouland's Delys and Roilette's Tardive, Zaccherie is among the most structured expressions of Beaujolais. Zaccharie is a Beaujolais of truly uncommon earthy depth and layered complexity.

Château Thivin has long been a benchmark in Côte du Brouilly. The legendary food writer, Richard Olney, served as Kermit Lynch's translator and somewhat as a guide in Lynch's early days. Olney, a lover of Beaujolais and wine in general, introduced Lynch to Thivin in 1976.

The wines of Côte du Brouilly have sadly gotten somewhat lost amidst the greater star power in the more northern crus, like Morgon and Fleurie. In terms of the diversity and interest that Beaujolais has to offer, this is an unfortunate circumstance. Côte du Brouilly sits on Mt. Brouilly, an extinct volcano. The soil is defined by diorite, which is a hard volcanic rock, with a small influence of clay. The resulting wines have a profound architecture and power along with a soaring cast of aromatics.

Cuvée Zaccharie is an old vine bottling from Thivin's two top vineyards, La Chapelle and Godefroy, selected after élevage. Zaccharie is a tour de force that, regardless of vintage, is a mind-bending Beaujolais.

The 2017 vintage in Beaujolais was less extreme than 2015 and 2009, but the vintage is a relatively ripe one. Thinking of it as a cross between 2014 and 2015 is helpful. The 2017 Zaccharie is an amazing combination of power, elegance and vivacity.

In this vintage, Zaccharie offers up a jaw-dropping amount of complexity. The profile ranges from dark and bright fruits to violets, smoke, dark minerality, perfume and exotic spices. All of this is rendered with a penetrating intensity and gorgeous clarity. There are ample tannins, but they are silken and nicely integrated, and everything is animated by a buoyant acid backbone.

We strongly encourage you to take advantage of the 4-pack pricing. There are few better, or more eye-opening, deals for the money. Zaccharie is one of the singular and most compelling Beaujolais out there.

To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.

Joe Salamone

Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits