Pierre Cotton
BEAUJOLAIS, FRANCE
Pierre Cotton grew up on the slope of Mont Brouilly in Odenas, where his family has been making wine since 1856 out of a deep, vaulted and storied cellar. He’s widely touted as one of the talented “new generation” of Beaujolais growers—a group that includes Yann Bertrand and Jules Métras, amongst others—and came back to winemaking after a short stint as a motorcycle mechanic and a two-year sabbatical in the Loire Valley.
Pierre’s début vintage was 2014, when he reclaimed 2.5 acres of his family’s Côte de Brouilly vineyard and bottled under his own name, “100% Cotton”. The success of that first wine led him to take over another 5 acres of Brouilly from the family holdings, and in 2016, he purchased 2.5 acres in Regnié. His most notable terroir is the slope nearest the family home in Odenas—a pink granite soil peppered with blue diorite stones he says can’t be found anywhere else in Beaujolais. His farming is organic, with a wealth of flora and fauna surrounding his vines, and his winemaking is natural, without any added sulfur. Vinification is the same across all cuvées (semi-carbonic in large cement tanks, aging in old foudres), so that it’s truly site that makes the difference.
The Wines
Côte de Brouilly 100% Cotton
variety: gamay soil type: pink granite & diorite avg vine age: 65 years
This wine comes off an organically farmed vineyard on a steep slope outside the family home in Odenas on a unique soil called corne verte (pink granite with blue diorite stones). The must ferments semi-carbonically in cement tanks, and the resulting wine ages in large old foudres for 8 months. Bottled unfiltered, with zero added sulfur.
Brouilly 100% Cotton
variety: gamay soil type: pink granite avg vine age: 65 years
This wine comes off an organically farmed plot called Les Mines, on a soil of pink granite with some limestone and alluvial deposits. The must ferments semi-carbonically in cement tanks, and the resulting wine ages in large old foudres for 8 months. Bottled unfiltered, with zero added sulfur.
Pierre Cotton in the News
No one is better-equipped than Pierre Cotton to show the world a closer look at the terroir of Mont Brouilly. Read More…