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Beaujolais

Saint-Amour Grandes Mises 2018
the Best gAmAy in the world!

since 2014, Les Grandes Mises have been making a name for themselves as Beaujolais cuvées that are
vinified and aged in the Burgundy style that regularly win awards. These are big wines that are structured
and complex, expressing the terroir of Beaujolais through the Gamay grape. These elegant wines are perfect
for pairing with all kinds of food.
in 2020, a milestone was reached when saint-Amour Grandes mises 2018 was elected Best Gamay in the
World at the concours International du Gamay on 11 January in Lyon, competing with 802 other Gamay
wines from France, switzerland, italy, and the united Kingdom. it was selected by a “super-jury” from all
the shortlisted wines.
This prestigious award crowns the work carried out by 25 partner estates covering 400 hectares.
Produced in a limited edition of 22,900 bottles, it owes its exceptional quality to rigorous plot selection
and a specific vinification method involving rack-and-return to bring out real character for these hand-
stitched wines.
This saint-Amour cru flourishes on soils where limestone marries with granite. The vines are 47 years old
and were harvested on 4 september. After vinification in whole bunches, the wine was vatted for two weeks,
with one or two rack-and-returns carried out at the end of alcoholic fermentation. This was followed by
ageing for 11 months on the lees in a concrete vat.
vinificAtion of

les grAndes mises The Grandes Mises range from
Mommessin: 12 appellations.
The secret is in the rack-and-return! reds: saint-Amour, Morgon Côte de Py, Morgon Les
Charmes, Morgon Grand Cras, Côte de Brouilly, Juliénas,
The style of Les Grandes Mises is the fruit of an Gamay varietal, which is naturally low in polyphenols. Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, and Beaujolais Villages.
encounter between the two neighboring regions The enriched juice is then sprayed back on top Whites: Beaujolais, Pouilly-Fuissé Les Deux Terroirs,
of Burgundy and Beaujolais. The wine is inspired the pips and skins. up to three rack-and-returns and saint-Véran La Grande Bruyère.
by Burgundy and its long vinifications. From the are carried out, ensuring the gentle extraction of
Beaujolais it expresses the emblematic varietal of polyphenols and anthocyans. By releasing sugar into
Gamay grown on granite soil. A technique specific the fermenting juice, the rack-and-return process
to the wine house known as rack-and-return allows extends fermentation to up to three weeks – twice
the real personality to shine through these hand- as long as is typical in the Beaujolais. This requires
stitched wines. equipment and time; between four to six hours per
The winemaking process is based on practices rarely vat. This method extends the keeping potential of the
used in the Beaujolais. After the grapes are picked wines to up to 20 years for the very best vintages,
entirely by hand, they are destalked and then later unlike the semi-carbonic method mainly used in
on undergo pigeages and rack-and-return. The rack- the Beaujolais, which accentuates the fruitiness of
and-return process takes place during vinification, wines intended for drinking in their youth at between
when the vat it completely emptied of its fermenting two and five years.
must. The weight of the grapes allows the sugar to But that is the price of excellence and it is this long
be naturally extracted from the thick grape skins. and complex process that contributes to the unique
This is added to the must, bringing more body to the expression of Mommesin’s range of Les Grandes Mises.

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