In July of last year, we sent out an email on Métras's Fleurie VV and it sold out almost instantly. Then, in August, we offered Métras's Moulin-à-Vent. Same thing.
The explanation is easy: Yvon Métras is one of the great cult producers of Beaujolais and his wines are really, really rare. Especially in a short vintage like 2012, where yields were down by up to 50%.
Métras was absent from the market for over a decade until 2009, when we were the first people to offer his wines. And that affords us some luxuries, like landing this second and final tranche of his 2012 Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent.
This makes us very happy - Métras's 2012s are totally gorgeous. There's an incredible energy, rigor and saturating intensity to the wines.
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Since Métras is such a core producer for us, and we've already sent emails on his 2012s, we'll keep this short.
In 2012, there's no Fleurie Ultime or Printemps, there's just Fleurie VV - and not a ton of that.
In Fleurie, Métras farms the Grille-Midi and La Madone: both are top sites in prime, steep and very sunny climats.
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.
In 2006, Yvon Métras purchased a mere 0.6ha of Moulin-à-Vent near his home making it an even rarer wine than the Fleurie. Moulin-à-Vent is commonly considered the King of Beaujolais, known for being the longest ager and easily one of the most complex of the Crus. Métras’s MaV shows some of the muscle of Moulin-à-Vent, but all of this seems channeled through his Fleurie background- there’s still an indisputable dose of grace and delicacy to Metras' MaV.
If the Fleurie is silken with a fierce streak of granite minerality, the MaV is meaty, simultaneously velvety and slightly granular. The minerality is iron tinged.
For those of you who haven't experienced Métras, the wines are incredibly, uniquely impressive. There's just another dimension to the wines; there's a textual element that's just captivating and impressive.
Just to underscore how rare these are, I should mention that this is the only place that Metras's Fleurie is available in the country and his MaV is only available at one other place.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits