Tasted in Charnay with Jean Paul Brun, 16th February 2017.
Domaine des Terres Dorées
565 route d’Alix
69380 Charnay-en-Beaujolais
Tel: +33 4 78 47 93 45
www.terresdorees.fr (not yet online)
Jean Paul on 2016:
“2016 was really hard because of the rain at the start of the year, which promoted mildew, though less oïdium. It was quite a late flowering which meant harvesting from the 27 September. Hail in Morgon meant only 20 hectolitres per hectare and zero Fleurie for us. The flowering wasn’t the best – MAV brought 30 hl/ha but that was down to the flowering, not the hail. The only crus with proper yields was St.Amour and Côte de Brouilly – but the maturity was not bad. Outside of hailed areas the quantity and quality was good. Gamay is happy with 45 hl/ha but from 55 you lose a lot. The wines are certainly not 2015s, but they are not ridiculous to drink, even after a 15!”
Jean Paul on 2015:
“In 2015 we harvested very quickly as it was really too hot. In the end , to finish as fast as possible, we had two teams in the vines – there was really the need to avoid the maturity going too high. It’s a lower volume harvest due to such small grapes with thick skins. But given the speed we harvested, we have nothing at 16°! Mainly 13.5 with one cuvée at 14°”
The wines…
Every label is a completely different design – “The label-maker is a wine fan and we come up with the designs together. Many reflect older-style labels.”
Such a great cellar – and I even recommend a white!
2015 Beaujolais Chardonnay Classic
Deep, interesting, a hint of spice. Supple, sweet fruit, a certain richness but balance too – really tasty finishing. One of the better whites that I’ve tasted in this vintage.
A wider nose, a little less spice – a little more direct, more mineral but with a fine balance and a certain delicious, saline character – even better – bravo!
2014 Roussanne
A deeper nose, a different register of aroma – but vibrant and interesting. A fresher style of wine, narrower, less rich but with
lots of energy – it reminds a little of Alsace riesling… it’s really very tasty and interesting!
Les Rouges…
2015 Beaujolais Le Ronsey
A majority of young vines are here. ‘A wine for the fruit’ all natural yeast, some pigeage.
A spicy and quite wide nose, faint pyrazine complexity. Fills the mouth nicely, plenty of pyrazine in the complexity here too, spicy complexity, and really good depth. Tasty wine with a touch tannin in the finish…
2015 Beaujolais l’Ancien
Vines of about 70 years old – the old vines cuvée.
A fresher style of red fruit, less spiced. Wide in the palate, a fresh style, good layers of developing flavour, long and aromatic in the mouth, becoming ever more direct. Excellent!
2015 Beaujolais L’Ancien Le Buissy
Make this in the good vintages, from vines of 60-65 years. Name of lieu-dit.
A little deeper colour. A more profound nose too, red fruited but a little darker colour. Immediately more width, similarly cool fruit but with a more obvious and direct complexity, there are still more layers, but this is more overt and up front. Today I prefer the last, but give this a little more time. Still, very tasty wine, and the finish is clearly on another level.
Those were gamays from the south on limestone – now for the granite:
A new cuvée, on the limit with Morgon, not so high, near village of Cercié, some gravel and clay in the soil here – in a difficult vintage the vines are less stressed here.
Fine red fruit – almost a macerating redcurrant style. Fresh, transparent, lithe, changing – this is simply delicious. Nice layers, super freshness, dark red flavour. This is for drinking!
‘Here the rising sun, so it keeps its acidity better – on the hillside, east, faintly south facing.’
A little deeper colour. Deeper, darker red fruit but with fine fresh energy. Directly delicious in the mouth, layered, complex and even more delicious than the last – more profound yet easy to drink. Bravo! A touch more tannin in the finish.
A beautiful floral top line over fine red fruit – absolutely attractive. Wide, fresh, layered, cooler red fruit with a floral complexity. There is structure and complexity in the flavour and just a lovely personality. Great stuff!
From Bellevue
Bright, fresh precise dark red fruits. Good volume, a suggestion of richness to the flavour but always fresh and precise – like the nose. Dark fruited and delicious finishing. Great wine again! A super density of finishing flavour too.
2015 Morgon Cote de Py – Javernieres
Foot of the hill, first vintage.
Dark berries, more spice, really a different and very attractive nose. Quite a ripeness of fruit but also salinity and very complex – the freshness is there, and the flavour melts wonderfully over the palate.
Had the vines 7-8 years – it’s a hot area. A little more than 5 ha, here with an age of about 40 years it’s also Grille-Midi, but the Grill-Midi cuvée has vines over 60 yo. Something of an amphitheatre, south-facing just west of the village. Normally 35 hl/ha for this cuvée and 25 for the Grille-Midi.
Fresh, spicy a little less on the fruit. Fresh, complex and really beautiful – not cliché Fleurie. Really a tasty, serious wine – I love! Only in the finishing flavour might you convince yourself there’s Fleurie in the glass.
5 ha of vines, here a parcel with Vines from 1947-1952
A little reductive. Slowly adding some floral dimension to the flavour. A little more richness of flavour but cool personality and a line of flavour rather than a width. Again, serious wine, very textured with beautiful purity and presence in the mid-palate. Bravo! A little extra brightness.
Tour du Bief – about 50 year-old vines
A little floral over deep, if slightly tight bass. Hmm, wide, melting flavour over the palate, simply a growing deliciousness. Layers of melting flavour. Simply gorgeous! Almost a stealth tannin that creeps up in the finish!
2015 Moulin-a-Vent La Rochelle
Bought this harvest from a local producer.
A complex nose, some spice, some depth, not yet ‘together’. Good volume in the mouth – a fresh, floral personality, very small growth of mouth-watering intensity – it gets better and better, but today at least, I prefer the last wine, but this is clearly less ready and the mid-palate and finish are really excellent – it would nice to compare again in 2-3 years!
Bought grapes.
A little less colour – the vintage. A less dense, more open and quite complex nose. Hmm, luscious, fresh, a little less ripe – saline, fine intensity, long and direct. Different. Delicious.
2015 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
A relatively light colour. Aromatically different, a suggestion of reduction in the tight depth. Slowly adding some floral component. Good volume, very good texture. Dark flavoured, lots of unfolding flavour. Today a little less delicious than the preceding wines, but very good density, and still a tasty wine.
14 months sur lattes, blanc de blanc, 5 gram dosage
A lovely, precise and fresh nose – very inviting. Nice volume, layered and complex, really beautiful in the mid-palate. A slow diminuendo of flavour. Simply delicious.
Rosé. 100% gamay, ‘methode ancestrale’ vinification in tank. 30-35g sucre, no malo.
Hmm, macerating fresh apple – not bruised apple. As inviting as apple crumble from the oven! Clearly very sweet, but like the aforementioned crumble, this could replace dessert – easily!