Buying a vineyard is one thing but making fine wine is something else. When we started it was essential that we look for a “metayage” arrangement where a vigneron would work the land and make the wine receiving as salary half the production.
This is a common situation with families passing on the wine making tradition from one generation to another. It has also enabled us to make fabulous wine and maintain traditions at the same time. .
The wine is just as good as ever, and continuity has been assured as the wine is still made by the same sharecropper vigneron Pascal Grandjean, a man 
dedicated to quality and the individuality that the estate’s terroir brings; the 2005 is a real stunner.
A deep ruby red with granite tinges, and a middleweight nose of spice, dark fruit, rubbed bramble leaf, and earth. On the palate this is a medium bodied wine, very juicy and sappy, with lots of dark crunchy brambly fruit, spice, and a hint of liquorice. The finish is long and dry, again with dark brambly fruit, earth, and a hint of gamey undergrowth. Good with hams & pork/other white meat dishes.
This wine represents fantastic value for money, one of the best in our Beaujolais list. - Nick Dobson
Régnié is the most recently created of the Beaujolais Crus, the appellation having received its official decree only in 1988. As such it is still relatively unknown, and remains to be discovered by many.
The 650 hectares of gently sloping vineyards are situated at an average altitude of some 300 metres, around the pretty village of Régnié-Durette, known for its church with twin bell-towers.
Soils are mainly granitic and sandy, and rich in the minerals necessary for the Gamay to flourish.
Régnié wines vary in style somewhat, with many being relatively light, yet supple, with good structure, cherry-red in colour, with aromas of redcurrant, blackberry, and raspberry, perhaps not unlike a Brouilly, and best drunk young. Others however are more full-bodied with more structure, and may be aged for a few years.
Régnié is excellent with white meats, roast pork, cheeses, and is particularly good with mushroom-based dishes. Tradition dictates that new Régnié should not be consumed before the springtime after it is made.