Tasted in Charnay with Jean Paul Brun, 20th April 2016.
Domaine des Terres Dorées
565 route d’Alix
69380 Charnay-en-Beaujolais
Tel: +33 4 78 47 93 45
Jean Paul Brun is located in Charnay, a village in the south of Beaujolais, but watch out with your GPS, there’s another ‘565 route d’Alix’ quite close by – I was only 15 minutes late! The domaine ‘Terres Dorées’ takes its name from the region of the Golden Stones – a yellow/gold limestone in the region. The once peasant houses built from terres dorées are now highly sought after – and of-course expensive!
There was an old family domaine, and originally, like most here, it was more of a farm with cereal and animals. Jean Paul started with 4 hectares of vines and was the first in his family to focus on wine – now it’s more like 50 hectares. Jean Paul’s father was in the coop in Lachassagne, Jean Paul started to work with him in 1977, setting out on his own in 1979. 30 hectares are in the south of Beaujolais, 20 in crus to the north.
Jean Paul’s goals are easy to express: “I triage then destem – fermentations always use natural yeasts. I want to make a vin de garde, a pure wine that works well with food. To that end I elevage up to 18 months like pinot.”
Only copper and sulfur, are used in the vines – sometimes (weed) germination inhibitors too, but no herbicides. I work in bio but without certification, and more raisonnée in the crus.
Elevage is mainly in foudres and concrete tanks. “Sulfur is indispensable but I use the minimum that I can – as it’s important that wines should also be able to age.” There’s only one bottling per cuvée, and though Jean Paul has used some Nomacorc for the whites he stopped as they weren’t dense enough – he plans to try some alternatives though. The reds stay with cork.
the markets for these wines are USA, Canada, Norway and about 45% in France. Prices ex-domaine are a very reasonably 9-15 Euros.
The wines…
Jean Paul was clearly prepared for me, with a long line of samples waiting! 5-6 yearrs is a good time to wait and then any time after that. Keep checking each year.
These wines were so good, it’s going to be a shame to move onto the next producer!
2013 Beaujolais l’Ancien
Vines of about 70 years old
A lovely pure fruit nose. Supple, with fine concentration – bright and direct fruit – lots of concentration and intensity. A base of minerality here that goes long into the finish. Lovely wine.
2012 Beaujolais l’Ancien
Brighter fruit, a mushroom/pyrazine impression. Lovely floral complexity on the palate – aided by a little pyrazine but mouth filling, and with a good texture. Lovely again. Super length
A deep nose, darker red fruit. Big in the mouth, some floral elements, lots of complexity and great energy – bravo – really lovely wine.
Here the nose is a little more chocolate, perhaps suggestion a faint reduction. Again, bright, pure, lovely wine with a fine energy and intensity. Bravo this is drinking very well. Direct but pure – super wine!
2013 Beaujolais L’Ancien Le Buissy
From the same vineyard but a parcel selection which isn’t made every year.
Fine fresh fruit – vibrant – deep flavoured fruit, quite red, a mix of cherry and redcurrant. Modest tannin and a lovely weight of very fine flavour. Excellent. Again with a super length…
2011 Beaujolais L’Ancien Le Buissy
Medium- plus colour. Red fruit, pyrazine. Super-fresh, bright palate of floral inflected fruit. More direct, more fresh – not better just different with a just a suggestion of fat to the texture too. Yum! Extra density in the finish, though I personally prefer 13 today.
A little chocolate, a little toasting of the fruit – lovely freshness and vivacity. I love the energy here. Just barvado, still a hint of angularity to the tannin. Simply a joy. Bravo.
Those were gamays from the south on limestone – now for the granite:
2013 Côte de Brouilly
‘Here the rising sun, so it keeps its acidity better – east, faintly south facing.’
A vibrant, pure, deep-fruited aromatic. Bright intense, pure Lovely, lovely, waves of mid-palate flavour.
A deep fruit – fresh but less overt. Wide at the start, then fills the mouth – layered fine fruited delivery – I love this – super!
“Brouilly really has one issue – it’s the hottest area and the maturity suddenly takes of, this is 350m high in the middle of the hill – I really love this terroir…”
A single 3.5 ha parcel made each year
A big wine a faint mushroom but clarity of fruit too. Large-scaled in the mouth – vibrant, complex fruit – this is a brilliant. It needs more time to settle – but what a prospect!
From the foot of Côte de Py with rising sun, ‘I’m really very happy with that.’ It’s granitic here not schist. 2.5 ha in Bellvue mainly – also some Côte de Py has just been bought.
Deep, fresh, focused red fruit. More weight, gorgeous mouth-watering width of flavour. I’m really in heaven drinking these wines! A strong finish too – something of a signature here.
2012 Morgon
More open, less focused red fruit nose. Good freshness though. Very impressive on the palate with a weight, texture, concentration that is very serious – clearly this will get better and better – but very high quality here.
A deep dark-red fruit. Also like the 12 a large-scaled wine, indeed this is even larger. Plenty of freshness to the concentration – this begs plenty of cellar time, despite its ease of drinking. A great wine in the making!
2010 Morgon
Yes! A profound, fresh nose. The palate is actually a little blocky, a little young compared to the nose- maybe you will have to wait just as long as for the 11 but the mid-palate and finish are excellent. Super wine in waiting!
2013 Fleurie
Had the vines 7-8 years, never more than 30 hl/ha as its a hot area. This the cuvée of 40 yo vines.
Really a fresher more floral aromatic. Supple more lithe and fresh than concentrated – yet with an insinuation intensity. Really grows in the mouth with pretty fruit. Very tasty. Only at the very end might you notice a hint of tannin – maybe. Lovely.
2011 Fleurie
Much deeper colour. Here a hint of pyrazine to accent the dark red fruit. Wide, intense, fresh not bulky but really lots of flavour intensity. A freshness of fruit in the finish too. A late arrival of extra finishing flavour too.
Bright, wide, dark fruit – very inviting – slowly growing floral note too. Big wine in the mouth, beautiful floral fruit – really engaging. Still tannin here – its a young wine. But what a great wine – bravo!
2009 Fleurie
A modest nose but one of freshness and discreet red fruit – no obvious warmth. Big in the mouth, fresh, still tannin but a brilliant energy and attendant complexity – really super. The finish is to die for!
5 ha of vines, here a parcel with Vines from 1947-1952
A bright, fresh character with a little mushroom below. Wine, sinew and muscle – waves of growing flavour – big wine, a touch of tobacco too. Intense, but great texture. A baby – a super baby! Almost an open ended finish…
2013 Moulin-a-Vent
From Tour de Bief
Instantly bright, open, more obviously a floral gamay than many before. Gorgeous starting texture, just a hint more tannin as it grows in the mouth. Bright, floral gamay flavour. Really gorgeous tasting wine.
Deep, dark a hint of mushroom and flowers. Big in the mouth, more fruit than cepage, gorgeous mouth-watering flavour. Not gamay, just great wine. Bravo – I could drink this all day.
2011 Moulin-a-Vent
The nose is rather modest. In the mouth there is power, a hint of pyrazine and a lot of ample flavour – really a massive wine. Good texture and a concentration that tells me to leave it at least anther three years, but probably drink it before its 50 😉
Here is a fresh and very inviting nose – the red fruit is on a modest lower register – but no less inviting for that. Gorgeous. The wine is wide, detailed, fresh and pure with a fine base of supple tannin and hardly any dryness – an extra complexity in the mid-palate – wow wine and still fine wine.
First vintage for this wine. Bought grapes.
Really a super perfume to this nose – red fruit and flowers. Supple, layered, gorgeous floral-inflected flavour. Fine texture with a weight of concentration and yet energy. Great wine in the making, a suggestion of salinity too. Late in the finish I note a little dryness – but that’s allowed for such a baby!