Tasted in Bagnols with Jean-Yves Sonnery, 21 February 2023
Domaine de Baluce
41 route du Plan,
69620 Bagnols
Tel: +33 6 83 88 26 28
www.baluce.fr
This château is largely surrounded by vines – parcels of different ages – anything up to 120 years old – and there’s plenty of chardonnay too.
The total is 14.5 hectares – “which is enough,” says JY – and I can understand as everything here is done by hand. “2022 was a good vintage here but we lost about half the volume, essentially because we have very draining soils – so actually the hillside (it’s more of a plateau halfway up a hill) vines didn’t get particularly frosted in 21 and it could rain as much as it liked – we didn’t have any of the problems associated with maladies in 2021 due to our great drainage – but to the contrary, it was bit too dry in 22. So we lost a lot of juice – you can see from the pruning work we are doing – we haven’t got a lot of wood to cut as the growth was much less in 2022. As for our 2021 harvest, some people had finished before we started – we finished in October in 2021 and are usually at least a week later to start than our neighbours. In 21 the grapes concentrated as it didn’t rain and the weather was fine.”
There are 17 wines here, including bubbles and sweet ones!
The wines…
A first visit, and generally, very good wines.
2021 Beaujolais Jean-Yves Sonnery
Sometimes labelled Gamay Petits Grains
A roundness of aroma the core is plenty ripe. Supple and quite concentrated, a round wine – I’d like a bit more energy but this is very tasty.
2021 Beaujolais Clos Baluce
Also a rounder, concentrated nose – the fruit a little darker. In the mouth a broader panorama of flavour. There’s plenty of peps in this wine and holds very well with some modest finishing bitters too.
2021 Beaujolais Villages La Rose des Bruyères
Vines that are 80-years-old.
Hmm – that’s a more impressive nose – there’s weight behind these aromas – some complexity too. Slightly soft in the mouth but this has nice shape, supple texture and lots of concentration for the vintage. Long finishing with a faint tannin that holds.
2021 Brouilly
Le Moulin Favre is the lieu-dit on the back-label.
A dark nose – mineral, graphite and silky dark fruit. Supple again but with a more architectural shape – this is a super wine of sweeping flavour but also with depth to that flavour.
2021 Beaujolais Vieilles-Vignes Cuvée Jean Sonnery
Named after the father of JY and with Tronçais barrel elevage.
Hmm – that oak is very well integrated – a nose that’s more floral than barrel, very faintly with pepper. Supple, some rounding of the shape, broad and deep – this is simply an excellent wine – not overt trace of oak.
2021 Beaujolais Rosé ‘Gamay Sans Toi’
That’s got a very attractive perfume – so inviting. Mouth-filling, round with some nice intensity – and certainly mouth-watering – optimal would be a bit more energy but this remains a completely delicious , excellent rosé.
2021 Beaujolais Blanc
Two different soils used here – there’s a Bourgogne Blanc too but that was sold out.
Lots of freshness – there’s some minerality in support and a floral note too. Supple, perfumed flavour. And with good length – small amount of machine harvesting for the white. That’s a very good BJB.