The Bererd brothers of Domaine de la Madone produce one of the finest values for the quality in the world. Gorgeously pure and textured with delicate, yet profound flavors of wild strawberry and black cherry. Every year Domaine de la Madone finishes at the top of Nouveau rankings in Wine Spectator, The New York Times, and many other major wine publications.
Domaine de la Madone is one of our favorites—few estates craft such character-rich, expressive Gamay outside of Beaujolais’ band of “cru” villages. But that’s Madone’s secret—their vineyards should be rated Beaujolais cru (or grand cru, if we had any say in it). This is certainly one of the finest values for the quality anywhere in the world.
There are many terroir parallels between the village of Le Perréon and cru Fleurie, a village known for its aromatic and wonderfully elegant Gamay. Brothers Olivier and Bruno Bererd tend almost exclusively older vines, many which are more than 100 years old. The family’s steep hillside vineyards are a challenge to harvest (at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees!); the brothers can’t drive a tractor through their fields, as it’s too dangerous—pickers have to scoot along at severe angles and struggle with a wheelbarrow as grapes are painstakingly collected at harvest.
