Bonnet Cotton, Cote de Brouilly '100% Cotton' 2023

100% Gamay

Beaujolais, France

Organic. Located right next to the Bonnet-Cotton winery in Odénas, Cotton’s parcel of Côte de Brouilly is on a unique terroir of ‘corne verte,’ a particular soil blend of pink granite and diorite which Pierre claims is found nowhere else in the Beaujolais. The Côte de Brouilly ‘100% Cotton’ was the first cuvée Pierre made, and it remains the emblematic wine of the domaine: a structured, powerful Gamay that retains the freshness and easy-drinking quality of the best Beaujolais. Full carbonic maceration of whole clusters in cement tank, then aged in foudre for eight months. VEGAN, NO ADDED SULFUR.

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 dotted with cavernous cellars was built in the 18th century to make the wines for the nearby Chateau de Pierreux, and over the years, it has housed a rotating group of producers. 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.

Pierre has been lucky to expand the breadth of the winery’s vision and focus with input from his agronomist partner, Marine Bonnet, who officially joined the domaine in 2020.

Marine’s professional background is argonomy with an emphasis on viticulture, and together she and Cotton are implementing many changes throughout their jointly held vineyards. Throughout 2022, they planted 500 trees in the middle of their holdings in Brouilly, in an effort to recreate lost habitat for animals in the vineyards, particularly between the streams at lower elevations and the copses of woods at the peak of each Beaujolais cru, which are usually hilltops. Marine also has guided further interplanting of specific tree species in an effort to stave off the intense droughts Beaujolais has endured, via the water retention trees provide, as well as adding shade and decreasing overall temperatures in the vineyards. Pierre and Marine have also been speaking with neighbors in Brouilly and other villages to join in these changes, potentially contributing to a communal effort against climate change and some of the disastrous vintages growers have suffered here in the last five-six years.

All of the wines at Bonnet-Cotton are vinified with native yeast and without SO2 in concrete tanks, then aged underground in century-old large foudres. (These were originally built for holding beer and then repurposed in the 1950s and 60s.) The foudres in which the wines rest range in size from 1400 – 4800L. Winemaking style is typically partial carbonic maceration; Pierre and Marine will use a touch of SO2 (max 10g/l) before bottling if they sense that an entire foudre is anything less than perfect. Most cuvées receive no sulfur additions as long as there isn’t need; the practice is dependent on vintage and vessel.