2020 Domaine du Clos du Fief Tradition Julienas Beaujolais 750 ml

Juliénas is the oldest and very first Cru of Beaujolais. Named for Julius Caesar, winemaking there goes back 2000 years to the Gallo-Roman Empire. These diverse soils have always been lusted over—covering just two square miles of vineyards, Juliénas has 120 producers fighting for its prized, increasingly expensive grapes.

Yet only Michel Tête’s wines were dubbed “the class of Juliénas” in the New York Times.

A few years ago, the New York Times’ wine critic Eric Asimov printed that Cru Beaujolais is “the greatest secret in wine.” Based on the skyrocketing price trends of the top-rated wines he recommended, the secret is out…with this wine as the one exception.

Domaine du Clos du Fief is a fourth-generation Cru estate in Juliénas run by Michel Tête and his son Sylvain. The Tête family works the old-fashioned way, following quasi-Burgundian techniques for this wine, with a semi-carbonic maceration—where fermentation begins inside the grapes themselves to retain the Gamay’s freshness and to highlight the integrity of their 45-year-old vines.

As the owner of a small estate that’s passed hands for this many generations, Michel has enjoyed the rare luxury that comes with ignoring the trends that have pushed pricing up for almost all his neighbors. He never boarded the Nouveau train, so he keeps his yields low and the quality high within his sandy-clay soils by maintaining meticulous attention to his Juliénas vineyards without having to make up costs along the way.

Vibrant and almost pulsating with exuberance, the 2020 Cuvée Tradition is the increasingly rare kind of red whose price point can reasonably sustain our near-nightly cravings for it.