The Durand brothers are making it look easy.  It’s hard to find Northern Rhone wines that combine soul and polish—it seems as if most of the new wines we taste are either hyper glossy or very rustic.  To hit that sweet spot, where your wines speak very loudly of place but are elegant, drinkable and age-worthy—that’s special indeed.  

Daniel Bouland makes gutsy wines from old vines in the heart of Beaujolais premier appellations. You often hear that they’re traditionally made and, although that’s true, it doesn’t begin to describe what makes the wines unique. These are wines that recall what Beaujolais would have been like before industrial farming and certainly before industrial winemaking. They’re special, powerful and age-worthy.

From a winemaking perspective, the closest comparison to what Daniel Bouland is doing is probably Domaine Dujac. The cross-regional comparison probably violates some sort of law of wine-writing, but when you look at what Bouland does with his grapes, it makes sense.