Côte de Brouilly
Styles
Principal grape varieties
Accessory grape varieties
Terroir
Natural factors
- Mont Brouilly is a small, isolated hill detached from the eastern edge of the Monts du Beaujolais, 40 kilometres north of Lyon and 15 kilometres from Villefranche-sur-Saône.
- The massif is characterised by porphyry rocks known locally as pierres bleues and by granite on the lower sections of the slopes facing west and north-west.
- The soils are thin, very stony and clayey over the pierres bleues, while they are sandy and highly free-draining over the granite.
- The east-facing slope, in the commune of Saint-Lager, carries half of the vineyard area, while on the north-facing slope the vineyard does not extend above 350 metres in altitude, compared with 400 metres elsewhere.
- Sheltered from westerly winds by the Monts du Beaujolais, more than 80% of the vineyard faces east and south, and its position on the hillsides allows it to escape spring frosts in most years and to benefit from maximum sunshine.
Human factors
- A chapel known as Notre Dame du Raisin was erected at the summit of the hill in 1857 by local producers to protect the vineyard from attacks of powdery mildew (oïdium).
- Gamay noir, sensitive to late frost and susceptible to sun scorch, is trained using short spur pruning at high planting density and in a gobelet form to control its vigour.
Product characteristics
- In its youth, the wine displays a fine violet-red colour that evolves towards garnet red with age.
- On the nose it shows floral and fruity notes that develop towards spiced notes over time, while on the palate it is fruity, full-bodied and marked by a certain minerality.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.
About this boundary
On the map, at overview zooms, this appellation is drawn as a silhouette of its vineyard generalised at 250 m from the INAO parcel delimitation; the parcels themselves appear as you zoom in.
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