2009 Domaine du Vissoux (Pierre Chermette) Beaujolais Coeur de Vendanges

From older vines – in this instance incorporating fruit both from the South and from the Beaujolais-Villages sector, near Brouilly – and vinified entirely in barrel, Chermette’s 2009 Beaujolais Couer de Vendanges smells vividly of fresh purple plum and cassis; is imposingly mouth-filling yet bright and buoyant (especially by the standards of the vintage, and despite higher-than-usual 13.3% alcohol) and finishes with persistent interplay of generously juicy fruit with salt, chalk, fruit pit, and iodine. This saliva-inducing beauty should remain delightful for 2-3 years.