Domaine des Canailles ‘Expérience n°2’ Rouge 2021

Location: France, Beaujolais

Winemaker: Simon Pérot, Etienne Ubaud

Grapes: Gamay

Soil: Granite

Winemaking: 70 year old vines of Gamay, hand-harvested; vinified whole cluster with native yeasts, no sulfur added at bottling.

From the Producer: Domaine des Canailles is located in Ternand in southern Beaujolais, only 30 kilometers north-west of Lyon. The 8 hectares are organically cultivated since 2005 and have been worked biodynamically since Simon Pérot took over the vines in 2019.

The story begins when Simon Pérot and Etienne Ubaud meet in 2010 while studying the wine trade in Gaillac, in the southwest of France. Simon first worked at Antic Wine Shop, then in Jean-François Vaillant’s vines (Domaine des Grandes Vignes) in the Loire to finally start viticulture/oenology studies with Claire Naudin-Ferrand in Burgundy. That led him to work in André Perret’s wine estate in the northern Rhône Valley. Finally, Simon was in charge of the Bel Air School’s wine estate Beaujolais just before he took over Jean-Jacques Paire’s vines in 2019. These are located on granite soil between 450 and 550 meters high.

After studying wine business, Etienne Ubaud continued with a ‘sommelier’ specialized qualification course while working at Nez Rouge, a restaurant in Toulouse. Then he started working in L’envie du Sud, a wine shop in Toulouse as well, before traveling the world and settling for a while in Montreal. He joined Simon in September 2019, for their first harvest and wine making, real starting point of the adventure!

Biodynamic methods are being used to take care of the granite soils vines. The respect of the grapes is maintained during the wine making process. Natural native yeast found on the fruit’s skin are being used for the alcoholic fermentation. We don’t filtrate our wines. When needed, a small amount of sulfite is being added before bottling.