Long-Haul Beaujolais:
2017 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvée Tardive

Posted by Joe Salamone

Roilette's Cuvée Tardive is one of Beaujolais' longest lived and most profound wines.

There are few bottles of Beaujolais that have the track record for aging, can deliver the incredible value and are as loved as Tardive. It is a wine that we buy in case quantities every vintage.

Still, there are some vintages that seem destined to be monumental. The 2017 Tardive possesses a serious depth, majestic grandeur and incredible finesse.

The 2017 vintage in Beaujolais is powerful and packed with mineral-accented complexity. The vintage was less extreme than 2015 and 2009, but the vintage is a relatively ripe one. This gives the 2017 Tardive an astonishing scale and resonance.

The hallmarks of Tardive are meatiness, dark fruits (black cherries, mulberries, plums), olives, licorice, smoke, mint, and an array of floral notes. This is all to say that Tardive delivers more than its fair share of complexity. With some bottle age, it really starts to shine through. Few Beaujolais are able to offer such profundity.

By now, most of you know the story: Alain Coudert set out to make the anti-nouveau, a bottle to showcase just how complex, structured and ageworthy Beaujolais can be. He definitely proved his point - Tardives with 10 or 15 years of age can be shockingly good.

Roilette's Tardive is sourced from two parcels of eighty-year-old vines perched directly on the border of Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent, which produces Beaujolais' deepest, most complex and ageworthy wines. Alain Coudert is eager to point out that the division between Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent begins at the tree line, but the soils are exactly the same.

Tardive's reputation speaks for itself. We strongly advise you to take advantage of the special 6-pack pricing. Even in the context of Tardive, this has all the markings of a distance runner.

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

Joe Salamone


Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits