New Wines from Château de Béru
NEW CHÂTEAU DE BÉRU WINES NOW
〰️
NEW CHÂTEAU DE BÉRU WINES NOW 〰️
LB & Athenais Beru!
Athénaïs de Béru’s wines are wines of exceptional character, land farmed for 20 generations but re-discovered by fresh vision. We are offering small quantities of four Chablis wines from Chateau de Béru. All of the wines produced from this unspeakably quiet village of Béru are called Chablis, labeled as village Chablis, no premier or grand cru parcels. We are thrilled by the wines made here by Chateau de Béru.
Béru is just a little bit wetter than the other parts of Chablis and at elevations between 350 and 400 meters is the high point of the region. This place looks in the winter like the surface of the moon. The ground is white with Kimmeridgian limestone made of old shells. At some times of year one sees dramatic white slopes punctuated by big plumes of smoke and small figures of vignerons burning grape canes from la taille - pruning in the spring. Béru has a bit more juice beneath your feet because the soil has a touch more clay, and more woods on the outskirts. Clayey soil can’t help but produce silky, fat chardonnay.
Athénaïs, the winemaker since 2006, inspires this place to rise up to optimal quality. The land has been planted to grapevines since the 12th century, but skipped a generation between the phylloxera outbreak and Athénaïs’s father, Comté Éric de Béru replanting the family’s 15 hectares of chardonnay in 1987. Nineteen generations of winegrowers prior to them farmed grapes here.
Every year we look forward to tasting the range of wines from Beru, check them out below!
Click each wine for more detail.
Chateau de Béru Chablis Clos Béru Monopole 2019
Chardonnay from a small and special place, inextricable from Athénaïs and the long line of her family members tending this small vineyard. In the glass, this wine is dense and hazelnutty with depth of salt and fat white Burgundy lovers feast on. The Clos de Béru is the parcel immediately adjacent to the family’s castle and was replanted in the 80s at the planting density of 6500 vines per hectare from a massale selection of vines. The vineyard is at 300 meters elevation on a very thin lime-clay topsoil on Kimmeridgean limestone. A true clos, surrounded by the same wall since the 12th century, recognized for its exceptional terroir since then. The 2021 is a concentrated and big expression of the Clos. Gently pressed chardonnay which is then fermented (always with native yeasts) and aged in larger oak barrels and foudres, not fined or filtered, and with only the smallest addition of sulfur. The Clos Béru is a great wine to sock away for ten years or more.
Chateau de Béru Chablis Terroirs de Béru 2021
The Terroirs de Béru is a kind of calling card, a blend of several stainless steel vinifications from all of the parcels of Chablis that the winery farms, treated rather simply. The wine offers a great deal of transparency and approachability young. Lots of yellow apple and fall fruits, with an earthen-toned hint of the bark of the tree as well. From the winery: “reflects the distinctive identity of Béru, within the Chablis Appellation. Because our vines are planted on top of the hill of Béru, they benefit from a unique micro-climate, influenced by a wide daily temperature variation and strong winds, which contribute to the specific balance of the wine. There, we grow small, concentrated and fully mature grapes which bring mineralogy to our wines.”
Chateau de Béru Chablis Montserre 2020
Chablis at its best is eye-opening. A glance at unknown depths of the earth, the silence of the depth of the limestone. Athénaïs’s winemaking leaves the view clear and unobscured with native yeast and no fining or filtration. 12 months in neutral barrel, then another 6 months in vats. Fleshy and beautiful chardonnay, with the clear-eyed limestone salt of Chablis playing a strong role thanks to the hands-off winemaking. Montserre is the highest point on the Béru hill. The name Montserre literally means the mount of the Serres, the “Serres” being a typical geological conformation made from piled up fossilized sharp limestone layers. Wines from this terroir express a strong personality, marked by its texture and concentration, mineral, salty, smoky notes and hints of iodine.
Orangerie is surrounded by a wall built in the 12th century, immediately adjacent to Clos Beru. It’s named for the encircling effect of neighboring fruit trees planted around the vineyard. Powerful, dense, and ancient,
Chateau de Beru Chablis Cotes Aux Pretes 2020
Salty butter and lemon rind in the glass, a slice of Béru’s white Burgundy beauty. Aged in old oak barrel for 12 months, then another year in large vats to further develop the wine. Natural wine with no fining, filtration, always native yeasts, and very low sulfur. From the winery: “Literally, the « Hill of the Priests », this name refers to the nearby paths followed by pilgrims on their way from Vézelay to Santiago de Compostela. This spectacular vineyard, perched on the top of the hill of Béru, forms a dome beautifully exposed to sunlight and to the wind. The soil is characterized by the presence of small eroded Kimmeridgian rocks. The Côte aux Prêtres Chablis is a very nervous, sapid wine, with salty iodine mineral notes.”
Athénaïs sees the biodynamic changes as improving the health of her vineyards and increasing yields in some years. She’s already faced challenging vintages like 2016 when she lost all of her grapes to frost, but her commitment to the health of the farm through techniques tailored to her place mean that the vines are living on healthy soil. Their chance of survival is high as their roots dig deep into the seabed, pulverized seashells of ancient Kimmeridgean times, for salty, iodonic tones.