Tasted in Le Perréon with Jean-Luc Longère, 16 February 2021.

Domaine Longère
Le Duchamp
69460 Le Perréon
Tel: +33 4 74 03 27 63
www.domaine-longere.com
More reports for Domaine Longère

Jean-Luc is, in theory, retired now – but only on paper as he enjoys what he does. His wife, Regine, has another 4 years to go though!

Jean-Luc on 2020:
There was little to worry about – no hail, no frost – of course, there was the heat and dry and only half the annual rainfall. The vines resisted – I’m really happy to say. So a lower volume harvest – 44 hl/ha – but that’s practically my objective of 45 hl/ha so I’m very happy.

Jean-Luc on 2019:
“The 2017 to 2020 vintages – they are all brothers and sisters – 4 consecutive vintages of sun. We harvesting almost in mid-September. But a low-volume harvest – 30 hl/ha because we were hit by the hail here, the positive side of that was that it came early – in May – so there was no effect on the grapes themselves – let’s call it a (too!) severe green harvest.”

The wines…

Because of the altitude here there’s an additional freshness to the 2019s – for the same reason the 2018s here didn’t show the roast characters seen in some places in Beaujolais – here they think their 2018s superior to 2019. I found this the usual range of excellent wines – the ‘Jar’ wine is, however, worth a special search!

There were Spring-Summer bottlings for all these wines except the jar wine, which was still waiting:

2019 Beaujolais Villages Blanc Nos 2 Elles
2 parcels in Le Perréon on granite-rose. All tank elevage.
There’s a good volume of forward aroma here – attractive. Fresh, nicely detailed, a little ripple of tannin then a width of minerality and ripe slightly exotic fruit – but hardly any rigour here, just a very delicious and very long wine. Excellent BJVB

2019 Beaujolais Villages Blanc En Verchères
Have made whites here since 1995. This is the name of parcel – half a hectare of vines on volcanic rock with some bluestone. 40-year-old vines. On a vein of blue granite, plain south but high up – over 300m. Harvested ripe but not too much to keep the spine. A little more than 15% barrel, not so old barrels…
Smooth and wide aromatics – mineral yet cushioned. Extra sweetness and concentration but fine energy that balances all. Rounder from the barrel elevage. No rigour, just a large-scaled and very tasty wine. Excellent BJVB again – just very different.

Les rouges…

2019 Beaujolais Villages
A round nose but of fruity freshness. Bright, great attack, freshness of fruit too, suggesting but never delivering a pyrazine. Intense and long – a long slow wave of flavour in the finish, fruit built on a base of graphite minerality. Super.

2019 Beaujolais Villages ‘Poivre et Sel’
Not made every year, not made in 15, longer elevage in stainless steel.
A deeper, darker fruit. Wide, with more depth of flavour. Mouth-watering width of flavour – wide finishing too – similar finishing flavours to that last but with more concentration – this is excellent wine – super again…

2018 Beaujolais Villages Le Vin des Roches
Partial destemming. Longer maceration – depends on the vintage. 400 m high on granite rose. Bottled just before harvest, not yet commercialized.
Round, faintly reductive but there’s a nice cushion to this attractive almost chocolate fruit. Round, nice presence in the centre of the palate – there’s obviously more structure here, the tannin is present but has no grain, a nice vibrancy of finishing, mouth-watering flavour.