Tasted in Juliénas with Sylvain Tête, 21 February 2024.
Michel & Sylvain Tête
“Les Gonnards”
69840 Juliénas
Tel: +33 4 74 04 41 62
Domaine Instagram
www.micheltete.com
More reports with Domaine Michel & Sylvain Tête
Sylvain on 2023:
“ I’m quite happy with 2023 – though the sandy terroirs sometimes had a bit more maturity. We started harvesting on 11 and finished 20 September in Jullié – about 40 hl/ha for the crus and, overall, a bit more than that.”
Sylvain on 2022:
“Well, we had 50% losses in 5 hectares in Jullié – that was the hail – but otherwise I’m really happy with the year. It was a hot year but we managed to keep some good acidity and so balance too. Just one cuvée was a little slow to ferment. It was a vintage that sailed close to over-ripe but not quite – and I’m a late harvester in general so no, I’m very happy. All the bottlings have been done and some of the cuvées are already sold out. We had a bit less volume than in 2023 – 5hl/ha so not a big difference. The wines fermented easily – we had to be more vigilant with the 2023s.”
The wines…
I really loved the purity of Sylvain’s wines in 2022 – you will too!!
2022 Beaujolais Villages La Roche
From the sector of Julié – there’s 5 hectares of this from the domaine’s total of 17 ha.
A large scale, very open nose today – darker fruit. In the mouth, this is no small wine either, lots of intensity of darker fruit. Some small finishing bitters – I’d keep this 2 years.
2022 Chénas Grand Gandelins
A large and very energetic nose – that’s a great invitation – such clarity of darker fruit. Really mouth-filling but there are more fluid and accessible flavours here. Again with intensity but precision too – I love it!
2022 Moulin à Vent Les Dechanes
This from the high slopes near Chénas
A calmer but still strong width of aroma. A little more structural wine but no less precision than the last. That’s a very tasty wine and it will keep getting better – I’d wait 2 years for it.
2022 St.Amour Les Captains
Hmm – that’s a lovely nose, wide, complex, faintly floral too – yes! Concentrated but with more than enough balancing energy. Slightly softer in style and really forward dark-red fruit finish. This flavour holds very long. That’s a super wine – keep it a couple of years too.
Assembly of multiple terriors.
Broad and with higher toned perfume – hmm – that’s very lovely! Plenty of more structural shape – architecture – bursting with flavour – that’s a beautifully complex finishing wine – perfumed too. That could be a great one – wait 2-3 years.
2022 Juliénas Les Berthets
A mix of cement and 500-litre barrels for elevage – botted only 1 month.
A little less width but this is another very forward aromatic – lots of deeply perfumed aroma again. Almost as structured as the last and at the same time more direct. A nice grain of tannin at the base. Intense finishing – a wine certainly to wait for but Sylvain has great purity in this vintage, and here great length too – wait 2-3 years again!
Vines only on blue stone. All destemmed, wooden tank and barrel elevage. Not made every year – the last was 19 – there was a 21 that Sylvain didn’t like so much – the first vintage was 05.
A deeper nose but it’s of beautifully pure and precise dark fruit. Rounded shape due to the elevage, but beautiful velour texture. A tiny grain of tannin supports the flavours – finishing a little saline and long, slightly licorice. I’d wait 5 years – it could be a great Julienas.