Vins de la Madone Côtes du Forez Mémoire de Madone 2022

Mémoire de Madone is 0.8-hectare outcrop of 50-year old vines on basalt. This was La Madone’s first parcel, hence the name, and is located at the foot of the Madone volcano. The genetic material here is Gamay Saint-Romain, a variety seldom found in the Forez (but one that maintains a foothold in Côte Roannaise). Gilles Bonnefoy was so impressed with the quality of the grape’s small, thick-skinned berries that he took mass-selection vines from Mémoire to plant his next vineyard. It’s a beautiful site that, like all of Madone’s vineyards, is managed biodynamically.

With a buoyant mix of darkly plummy fruit and velvety texture (the wine is raised in 900-litre sandstone amphora, which Gilles finds amplifies the wine’s density), this is the most compact wine in the range. Yet, it is still packed with sprightly vin de soif personality guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Tasted next to the entry-level La Madone (which we did not receive), this has a darker, inky, cherry profile with super-fine tannin particular to this cuvée’s old vines and volcanic soils. It’s juicy, vibrant, deep, long and deliciously perfumed—if we were in Beaujolais, think Morgon.