Tasted with Pascal Aufranc, in Chénas, 20 February 2023.
Domaine Pascal Aufranc
890 chemin de Rémont
69840 Chénas
Tel: +33 4 74 04 47 95
www.pascal-aufranc.com
More reports with Domaine Pascal Aufranc
Pascal on 2022:
“The quality I like: It’s a sunny year but the fruit is fresher than in 2020 – though like many producers, we had grapes that lacked some juice due to the dryness.”
Pascal on 2021:
“I didn’t have much frost but I still had some of the maladies due to rain. But I made more wine than in 2022 that’s for sure. In April I bottled my no sulfur cuvée – the others were done in January and June 2022. I’m not sold out, I take my time to commercialise and apart from the ‘Naturellement’ – which I started selling a few weeks back – the rest of my 21s are not yet on the market.”
The wines…
Very good – nay excellent – wines in 2021.
2021 Chénas Naturellement
Young (25-year-old) vines, no destemming, no added sulfur – also not for bottling.
Quite an airy nose but with good vibration and a growing perfume. Hmm – that’s vibrant, open and just has a lovely energy – still very perfumed – there’s not a lot about this that proclaims ‘nature’ only how easily it drinks and delicious it is!
2021 Chénas En Rémont
The old vines from the domaine, a grill used in the fermentation tank. Bottled in December – so 2 months…
A nice width of silky aroma – very different and slightly mineral too – but fine. Mouth-filling, growing with intensity – almost a hint austere – I’d keep this a year before drinking but the energy and flavour complexity are good. The finish is a very good one.
2021 Juliénas Les Crots
‘We quit the granite and arrive here in the clays’
Hmm – now that’s super – a slight cushion to this width of attractive and fresh fruit. More supple and concentrated. Some intensity, this is reminiscent of the Chénas. Keep this too – but there will be more to find in 12 months – Very good – with slightly chalky finishing – that’s lovely.
2021 Juliénas Probus
The parcels of Crots, Capitains with an addition from Les Chers above the village with a blue-stone soil. All the elevage in cement eggs from Bordeaux that mimick the oxygen transportation of barrels.
Extra purity of dark fruit – a silky impression slowly unwinding with some perfumed notes. The most balanced of all – still intense, but mouth-filling with some perfumed fruit too. A long finish that’s direct and mouth-watering. The finish is super – simply excellent wine.