We welcome one of Beaujolais’ most authentic and down to earth producers to the GD family. Daniel Bouland shies away from the spotlight and spends most of his time in the vineyard. With a focus on the appellation of Morgon where he is based, Bouland’s wines are some of the purest and most expressive we have had the privilege of encountering. This is our maiden release of his wines. But let’s rewind a few years.
Dear Reader,
It was back in 2016 that GD’s co-owner and GM, Derek Kilpin, whilst spending some time in the tiny village of La Charité-sur-Loire, popped into the local wine shop and asked the owner of Le Vin, Jean-Paul Quenault, to recommend something. Well, Derek dug deep into his modest French vocabulary arsenal as Quenault did not speak English. Mutual understanding was eventually established, and Derek was recommended a magnum bottle of Morgan “Corcelette” from a vigneron he had never come across before, Daniel Bouland.
So impressed was Derek by this bottle of Beaujolais that his search began to track down monsieur Bouland. This took a fair while as Bouland is not the best on e-mail or phone as he spends most of his time in the vineyard. Eventually, Derek managed to get an appointment to visit Bouland in Morgon during his and GD founder Wayne Visser’s annual visit to Burgundy in 2019. They arrived there towards the end of the day, and it was getting dark. Bouland appears from the vineyard following a full day attending his vines and ushers Derek and Wayne to his cellar where they taste. “It was a moment locked in time”, Derek recalls. An order is placed with Bouland, on the spot, and without even asking what his wines cost. We could not quite believe it when we received the invoice (via fax!). For what these wines cost, they have to be some of the best value buys from the GD cellar.
Much like Pinot noir from Burgundy, the quality of Gamay noir from Beaujolais all comes down to location and the vigneron’s understanding of how to guide what is harvested into the bottle. Daniel Bouland is one of Beaujolais’ most understated talents and his wines are largely a well-kept secret.
“Daniel Bouland sits squarely in the upper tier of Beaujolais producers. Bouland has steadily developed a dedicated following that makes his wines difficult to track down. They’re more than worth the effort given their consistent quality, which is about as high as it gets in Beaujolais.”
Josh Raynolds for Vinous | July 2021
Old vine Gamay noir is harvested by hand under the watchful eye of Bouland who works mostly on his own between the vine rows. The old, gnarly, goblet-trained vines produce small yields and Bouland simply empties whole-bunch grapes into old, open top oak vats to undergo fermentation. There is no filtration. What you get inside the bottle is some of the purest, most deeply concentrated wine that also bursts with freshness and a sense of place. Even his young vines have been planted with selections massal from his older parcels.
The twelve-bottle mixed case we have put together here makes for some of Beaujolais’ most transparently authentic wines that are simply a joy to drink. This has been a six-year long project and it’s been worth the wait.
Daniel Bouland 12-bottle case
R3,595
Only 30 mixed cases are available. *Price is per 12-bottle mixed case and incl. VAT
- Morgan “Corcelette vieilles vignes” | 2020 | 3 x bottles
- Morgon “Corcelette vieilles vignes cailloux” | 2020 | 3 x bottles
- Morgon “Pré Jourdan” | 2020 | 1 x bottle
- Morgon “Bellevue cailloux” | 2020 | 1 x bottle
- Morgon “Les Delys” | 2020 | 1 x bottle
- Morgon “Les Delys vignes plantées en 1926″ | 2020 | 1 x bottle
- Chiroubles “Chatenay” | 2020 | 1 x bottle
- Côte de Brouilly “Melanie” | 2020 | 1 x bottle
