Pierreux is located at the heart of Brouilly - geographically the widest-ranging of the Beaujolais crus. The Beaujolais region, pressing up against the foothills of the Massif Central, overlooks the Saône river plain between Mâcon and Lyon. The vines of the Beaujolais vineyards, with their undulating relief, are characterised by very dense plantation and exposure to all four points of the compass. Pierreux is no exception to this rule. Here, in shallow, highly absorbent sandy soil consisting of pink granite dotted with blue porphyry stones (hurled out several million years ago by the Brouilly volcano), Gamay vines grow in solitary splendour.