Tasted in Bagnols with Jean-Yves Sonnery, 20 February 2024.
Domaine de Baluce
41 route du Plan,
69620 Bagnols
Tel: +33 6 83 88 26 28
Domaine Instagram
www.baluce.fr
Jean-Yves on 2023 & 2022:
“In 2023 we made a good harvest – a bit more than in 22 – wines with a bit less power. We are on red wine terroir with some schist and granite, there’s no argilo-calcaire here – 12 ha of gammay and 3 of chardonnay. In 2022 with this easy filtering soil meant that it was very dry, hence we had a low rendement – the reverse in 2021 – we were lucky in 21 because of our drainage we had no problems with rot and made some very nice wines – so we made less in 22.”
The wines…
A fine range – and some are properly great for their respective labels…
For the 2022s we taste what remains or, re-said, what isn’t sold out! We have 8 to taste – there are 18 in the range!
2022 Beaujolais Pierres Dorées Clos Baluce
Plenty of colour. Round with dark quite intense fruit – but not hard – slowly a more perfumed halo rises from the glass. This is very lovely in the mouth, easy, fluid, elegant even. Mouth-watering, almost a little saline. Good length here too with some attractive, small bitters. A super Bj
2022 Beaujolais Pierres Dorées Vieilles-Vignes
Extra breadth and a faint spice in this case too. Less round but a more impressive almost panoramic – width with depth! Hmm, also mouth-watering, faintly stricter, but with beautiful flavour energy and lovely texture – the finish is beautifully perfumed. A completely excellent wine.
Vines that are 80-years-old.
More open and floral – that’s a very perfumed wine. Juicy, broad, faintly tannic – almost chalky – really more intense finishing – I love it but I would wait 1-2 years to drink another simply excellent wine – maybe a great BJV.
2022 Brouilly
From La Moulin Favre in Odenas – a bridge between Thivin and Chaize – pink granite here versus the grey of the previous wine which was from a vineyard neighbour of Brouilly.
A calmer breadth of aroma but with concentration and a faint impression of cushioning. Larger scale in the mouth – beautifully fluid and silky wine – a certain linearity to this excellent and growing more intense flavour. That’s a beautiful wine – no questions!
Finish the reds with one that has oak elevage – over 100 year-old vines with 1 year of 228-l barrel elevage.
A calmer width of aroma – seemingly fine-textured – I really don’t note the oak. Fine volume in the mouth – growing in intensity and with a very faint grain of tannin. This for ‘Beaujolais’ is a great wine – you can hardly note any oak – perhaps in shape but not in flavour – superbly crafted wine – I’d wait a couple of years but you could already drink it with pleasure.
Rosé and whites:
2022 Beaujolais Pierres Dorées Rosé ‘Gamay Sans Toi’
Hmm – that’s got a nicely expressive nose – you need to swirl but you’ll get the benefit. Mouth-filling, juicy wine. A little mineral rigour but a finish that’s broad and delicious – and very long for a rosé.
2022 Beaujolais Pierres Dorées Blanc
Easy and pretty – that’s got a nice aromatic invitation with some pretty citrus complexity – not too ripe. In the mouth, this is wide and grows in mouth-watering energy. I don’t note the same rigour just a growing intensity of almost juicy flavour – perhaps with a faint salinity. That’s very good.
2022 Beaujolais Pierres Dorées Blanc Cuvée Baptiste
This with a year of barrel elevage and not long bottled – December – so longer elevage than the equivalent red.
A nice depth to this wine with flashes of pure, ripe but not heavy fruit. There’s some barrel flavour in the middle but a blend of good concentration and mouth-watering balance too. Slowly fading flavour – this could be a super wine but give it another two years for the, already modest, barrel references to fade.