Camille Mélinand comes from a family of winegrowers in Fleurie, the center of the northernmost section of Beaujolais. He is a young cult producer handcrafting small amounts of ultra-elegant and delicious Cru Beaujolais from estate vineyards utilizing natural farming and production methods. Presently, Camille farms two vineyards he owns in Fleurie and Chiroubles, vinifying the wines in traditional large foudres at his family’s cellar in Fleurie, Domaine de Marrans, where he works with his brother Mathieu to make the domaine wine. In Chiroubles, he farms the highest Cru in Beaujolais at 400m, a 1ha lieu-dit called Tempéré, which is located on a very steep south-facing slope of 35% grade. To work the soil, he has to utilize cables and winches for plowing. It is painful, manual work, but Camille feels the results in the vineyard are worth the massive effort. The vineyard is planted to 50-year-old, gobelet-trained gamay vines in pink granite. Camille has 1.5ha of 60-year-old gamay vines in Fleurie in the La Chapelle des Bois lieu-dit planted on shallow, stony, pink granite soils. The pink granite found in his Fleurie vineyard is a little more decomposed than in Chiroubles. In this vineyard, which is planted at 300m, he is gradually training his vines up to cordon, where they can benefit from natural ventilation to combat disease. For his pétillant naturel, Camille selects his young (10 years on average), cordon-trained gamay vines from his vineyards in Fleurie planted on shallow, stony, pink granite soils. The pink granite found in his Fleurie vineyard is a little more decomposed than in Chiroubles. The red gamay bunches are directly-pressed and follow the pétillant naturel vinification method described below. A true blanc de noirs Beaujolais pét-nat that is full of young-fruit, vibrant minerality, and joie de vivre. Made in very small quantities, this fun, authentic drink is a staff favorite at De Maison Selections.