Bonnet-Cotton ‘Les Mines’ Brouilly Rouge 2020 (MAGNUM)

Location: France, Beaujolais, Brouilly

Winemaker: Pierre Cotton

Grapes: Gamay

Soil: pink granite

Winemaking: All of the red wines at the domaine are vinified with native yeasts and without SO2 in concrete tanks, then age underground in century-old foudres that were originally built for holding beer, then were repurposed in the 1950s and 1960s.

From the Importer Paris Wine Company: ‘Les Mines’ comes from a single parcel of the same name. Typically, the domaine only produces one wine from Brouilly—a blend of Les Mines as well as another parcel of vines called Bonnège. In 2020, Pierre and Marine decided to make two separate cuvées, as this is the last year that they will be able to harvest grapes from the Bonnège parcel, which their family has been leasing for two generations (it was recently sold and reclaimed by the new owner). To make things even more confusing—because these ephemeral cuvées only exist for one year—they decided to use the original Cotton labels, so the indication will only be on the back label.

Pierre Cotton's family has been farming and producing wine at the same cellar in Odenas since 1856. Legend has it that the large chai, with its cavernous cellars, was built in the 18th century to make the wines for the nearby Château de Pierreux, and that over the years, it has housed a rotating group of producers.

Today, Pierre and his partner Marine are the sole producers to make wine here. After working for a short stint as a motorcycle mechanic, Pierre spent two years in the Loire Valley before returning to the domaine. In 2014, he reclaimed 1 hectare of Côte de Brouilly for his first cuvée - 100% Cotton. Over the next few years, he reclaimed another 2 hectares around Brouilly from the family holdings, purchased 1 hectare in Fleurie, 1 hectare of Regnié, and 1 hectare of Beaujolais, sas well as planted a small patch of Beaujolais Blanc on a unique vein of limestone near the domaine.

Inspired by tasting wines with compatriot friends Yann Bertrand, Jules Metras, and Keke Descombes, Pierre’s wines are all farmed organically and made without any sulfur. Vinification is semi-carbonic in large cement tanks, and then the wines are aged for 8-9 months in old foudres that range in size from 14 to 42 hectoliters.

In 2020, Pierre's partner Marine Bonnet officially joined the domaine. Marine has a background as an agronomist specialized in viticulture, and Pierre and Marine now manage both the vineyards and winemaking together.