Tasted in Charnay with Jean Paul Brun, 18 February 2022.
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)
More reports with Domaine des Terres Dorées
Jean Paul on 2021 and 2020:
“For the 2021s we have already done 2 or 3 bottlings and I’m happy with the result. Speaking generally, it’s a good problem to have but, commercially, we lack wine. Clearly, that’s not helped by having 50-55% of a normal volume in 2021, which was due to a combination of factors, including both frost and mildew. 2020 was of course an easier vintage – with a bit less sun than in 2018 – but still a sunny year – we have 45 hl/ha which is okay – a little bit down but not much.”
The wines…
Another fine vintage for Jean Paul. some clearly great wines and many that are excellent too. It was great to take a look at a number of JP’s 2015s this year too.
2021 Beaujolais Le Ronsay
A majority of young vines are here. ‘A wine for the fruit’ all-natural yeast, some pigeage.
A punchy nose of freshness and a little greenery. Round, supple – ooh – that’s really very fine and tasty – generous and delicious – no green notes in the flavours, maybe a slight smokiness. Yes! Excellent wine!
Vines of about 70-years-old – the old vines cuvée.
Nicely direct, pure and red – that’s a fine invitation. Pure fruit, nicely shaped – no lack of concentration. Bravo! A ball of delicious and long finishing fruit flavour!
2020 Beaujolais l’Ancien Buissey
‘Not made every year as I don’t want to take anything away from the previous wine.’
Also direct but even more striking fruit aromas. A narrower line of flavour, slightly reductive – a little more tannin framing the flavours. Opening out in a more airy finishing style – this is very good – but keep it while drinking the previous.
2020 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Nicely vibrant and pure-fruited. Fine in the mouth – open, great texture. That would be a beautiful, excellent, wine even if it came from Gevrey-Chambertin rather than the Beaujolais!
2020 Côte de Brouilly
Here facing the rising sun.
More direct and higher-toned freshness. Some extra sucrosity and energy to this one. Quite vibrant and delicious but more open and sweeping than the BPN. Wide and ultra-delicious finishing – and yet again, excellent!
2020 St.Amour
On the hill towards le Bourg not far from the cemetery.
Lots of airy higher tones here – tighter below. Cool, mineral, considered but fresh. Growing in intensity, melting over the palate – ooh – this is super. That’s a subtly impressive and excellent, again, wine.
Had the vines about 10 years – it’s a hot area. A little more than 5 ha, here with an age of about 40 years in Grille-Midi.
Not such a deep colour. That’s a lovely and vibrant nose – it’s really super. A modest cushion to this texture – great texture – a wine still with energy to balance the layers of flavour – that’s possibly a great wine – the finish certainly is!
Third vintage. South-facing a hot place where you can very quickly have over-mature fruit – lots of attention needed here in 2018 and 2020.
More of a crushed red fruit style to this nose – fresh too. Super in the mouth – slightly more incisive, framed with a modest tannin – more of everything – bravo!
2020 Fleurie Grille-Midi
Also Grille-Midi but 1950-1955 planted old vines – never more than 25 hl/ha
An extra aromatic intensity to this red fruit. A little reduction destabilises this so I left a glass for the end of the tasting: There’s concentration here – but still a slightly particular style to the fruit – it’s now much less – so carafe if have the same issue in the future – but the finish is wide, fine-textured and appealing.
2020 Morgon
2.5 ha in Bellevue – not a lot of soil here.
More direct – narrower but with attitude. Mouth-filling, certainly a little more structure here but with energy and lots of flavour complexity – keep this in the cellar 1-2 years – you will be rewarded.
Foot of the hill, east-facing, fifth vintage.
Adding just a little more width to the darker red fruit aromas. Hmm – more textural sophistication – very silky – a couple of millimetres extra padding too – but never fat. Really impressive wine – also for waiting but with less overt austerity here. Bravo – clearly the wine of the tasting so far!
2020 Moulin-a-Vent
Tour du Bief in Chénas – 6 hectares – about 50-year-old vines
Extra freshness – a little herb complexity in this mix of aromas. Open, less concentration than the previous – but more airy in style – still a nicely fluid and fine-textured style – a wine that grows and grows in presence – in the end, this is not far behind the last – simply an excellent wine.
2020 Moulin-a-Vent Les Thorins
Close to the Moulin.
A narrower, more mineral nose to start. More structure than the previous, becoming wider and wider – super finishing complexity too with a graphite minerlaity– this for keeping – wait 2 years for great reward – it’s at least excellent!
2020 Moulin-a-Vent La Rochelle
Hmm – that’s a larger scaled nose with lots of appealing complexity. Mouth-filling, there’s concentration that’s completely balanced with a fine energy. Mouth-watering beautifully. The wine with the largest scale and most hidden structure today. This is more than very good!
Some 2015s?
2015 Beaujolais l’Ancien Buissey
Hmm – that’s got a lovely sous-bois style to the nose – but fresh. Wide, good texture – mouth-filling some herby complexity but clearly not a negative – this sits very well on the palate – tasty wine – and still with a little lick of finishing tannin!
2015 Fleurie
Also a fine leafy development, here mingling with floral references too. Mouth-filling, a little less sweetness – but a flavour that wraps around the tongue. Impressively still structural but never too much. Approaching but clearly not yet reaching maturity.
2015 Fleurie Grille Midi
A complex mix of leafy tones, some herb with slightly cooked, darker, fruit. This holds a super shape in the mouth – structural in shape indeed architecturally shaped – the slightly grilled fruit still, but a finer texture than the previous Fleurie – still a baby…
2015 Morgon
Some development of the aromas but much more modest than the previous wines. The silkiest and most direct – the youngest! Vibrant, fine fruit too. This will last a good few years more. I’d happily drink this now or wait another 5 years! That’s really fine!
That’s not the largest nose but it’s one that draws you in – complex, almost cushioned – yes! A mix of high and low tones – great texture, mouth-filling. A wine for food (if you must!) but what a wine – bravo! A wine with everything – except excess 😉
2015 Moulin-a-Vent La Rochelle
A wider nose, like the last, not so much dried leaf, here there’s a more subtle width but again very complex – maybe even a little marzipan and florals to this. Composed, wide, cool fruit – that’s a wine with presence – the fruit a little cooked in the middle but again no other excess – I think it excellent and it’s still very young.
Les Blancs
Fewer whites here in terms of cuvées, but it’s an important volume for the domaine – more than 25% of the volume. ‘We prune Guyot so 8-9 buds, that’s quite modest:‘
2020 Roussanne
Planted near the winery on a limestone soil
That’s actually a very attractive fruit nose – a ripe pineapple style. Fresh, direct, a little structure – finishing mouth-watering – bon-bons – and minerality!
2020 Beaujolais Chardonnay Classic
Tank elevage on lees with malo done – like the Roussanne
Clean, wide and fresh it’s a mineral character to this nose – an appealing one. Mineral, direct, mouth-watering with tiny accents of complexity. That’s very good
2020 Beaujolais Blanc
A foudre and and barrel elevage – one-third foudre – mybe a bit more than 5% new oak in the barrels.
A slightly rounder nose with a bit more yellow fruit showing. Vibrant, a little exotic fruit style but clean, ‘chiselled’ and mineral, in the middle before lounging over the palate and slowly mouth-watering towards the finish. Easy wine – I prefer the more frank ‘classic’ in this vintage!
Cremant Charme
All chardonnay 24 months sur-lattes with a small dosage
The classic mirabelle fruit of cremant but with a lovely purity too. A little sweet – but there’s clarity and detail here – it’s delicious but just a little sweet for my palate.