Wines

“Cuvée P’tit Co” comes from a 45-year-old parcel of Gamay situated at 265 meters altitude in soils of pebbly quartz. With its cool northeasterly exposition and lighter soils, this vineyard produces a charming, pretty wine of delicately articulated spice and gentle tannins. Anita employs whole-cluster semi-carbonic fermentation in cement for this cuvée, followed by six months of elevage, also in cement vats.

The renowned Poncié vineyard produces wines which beautifully balance elegance and structure—the epitome of what makes Fleurie so desirable. Anita’s old vines here are planted in soils of crumbly pink granite at 260 meters altitude on a southeasterly exposed slope, and she employs a “layer cake” of whole clusters and destemmed berries for the fermentation. Aged six months in cement, this wine showcases Anita’s deft touch with extraction, offering incredibly pure and precise fruit which interlocks seamlessly with the ultra-fine tannins.

Anita owns a plot of old vines in Morgon’s Château-Gaillard vineyard, situated at 250 meters altitude and exposed to the south and southeast, with relatively poor soils of friable quartz. Fermented with a combination of whole clusters and destemmed berries, this cuvée is aged 80% in cement and 20% in used Burgundy barrels—an elevage well suited to this terroir’s tendency toward richness. Anita perfectly checks that richness, creating a wine of deep, dark fruit, subtle salinity, and a clean, soaring finish.

One of three separate cuvées Anita produces from her holdings in the Moulin-a-Vent vineyard of Les Caves, “Reine de Nuit” (“Queen of the Night”) comes from a 1.3-hectare planting of 40-year-old Gamay in manganese-rich granite with southeastern exposition, situated at 280 meters altitude. Its name refers to Anita’s practice of harvesting the fruit for this bottling at night, between 3:00 AM and 9:00 AM, to capture as much freshness as possible. Aged six months in cement after a classic whole-cluster semi-carbonic maceration, “Reine de Nuit” is almost Pinot Noir-like in its sumptuous fruit and refined carriage, and while it offers a sense of structure appropriate for its cru, the tannins are remarkably suave.

Anita produces this cuvée from a 65-year-old planting on a lower part of the slope (240 meters altitude) in Les Caves in soils of decomposing granite with streaks of manganese. If the “Reine de Nuit” offers a certain lifted elegance, “Tres Vieille Vigne” harnesses the power and sap these old vines are capable of. To that end, Anita ages 25% of the blend in used Burgundy barrels, extending the elevage to ten months—a regimen which underlines the Pinot Noir-like qualities of this site even more clearly than the “Reine de Nuit.” A heady overlay of savory spice calls to mind great Morey-Saint-Denis, and its dark-cast fruit is dense but not overdone.

This cuvée is the vin de garde of Anita’s trio from Les Caves. Sourced from a 0.82-hectare parcel of southeasterly exposed vines planted at the highest part of the vineyard at 290 meters altitude, “Coeur de Vigneronne” is fully de-stemmed, with extraction performed via punch-downs rather than semi-carbonic maceration. Aged a full year entirely in used Burgundy barrels, it offers more tightly grained structure and thicker fruit than its two vineyard mates, yet Anita’s masterful sense of balance is on full display.

Anita owns a 0.44-hectare parcel of 50-year-old vines in the pink granite soils of Moulin-a-Vent’s La Rochelle vineyard, exposed to the southeast and sitting at 240 meters altitude. In line with her “Coeur de Vigneronne,” this cuvée is produced with a mind to cellaring, and a vertical she presented during our first visit was indeed stunning in its complexity. Fully de-stemmed, this undergoes a three-day pre-fermentation cold soak before spending 24 days macerating with daily punch-downs; aging takes place entirely in used barrels for a full year. Despite its ample structure, the acidity here is bright and ringing, and the tannins are gracious, spreading broadly across the palate. A murmuring undercurrent of warm stones and damp earth elevate this cuvée far beyond the fruit-driven frankness of much Beaujolais.