Domaine Jean-Paul Brun ‘les Terres Dorées’, Charnay-en-Beaujolais
Background
Located to the south in ‘Bas Beaujolais’, just above Lyons, Jean-Paul Brun is the owner and winemaker at this family estate. His father started off with just 4 hectares of vines, and sold his grapes to the local cooperatives, and since 1979, Jean-Paul has managed to grow the estate to 22 hectares. His wines are wonderfully fruity, with depth, concentration and complexity. They are definite food wines, as opposed to the juicy-fruit concoctions which Beaujolais is known for, and remind us that serious wine can be made from the much (and often unfairly) abused Gamay grape.
Size:
22 hectares, made up of 17 ha of Gamay and 2 ha of Pinot Noir.
| Soil type: | chalky clay and granite. |
| Vine age: | 20-55 year old vines. |
| Yields: | 40-50 hl/ha. |
| Annual production: | 300,000 bottles |
Viticultural and vinification methods
Like many winemakers, Jean-Paul is gradually converting to bio-dynamic farming.
Jean-Paul makes traditional wines, vinified with minimum intervention. Jean-Paul chooses to steer clear of the ‘tricks’ developed in the Beaujolais over the last 30 years, avoiding carbonic maceration, thermo-vinification and yeast inoculation.
He prefers to work with the grapes’ indigenous yeast, rather than adding synthetic yeast, as used by lots of producers. He also believes that Beaujolais tastes much better at a lower level of alcohol, and so doesn’t believe in adding extra sugar (chapitalize) to raise alcohol levels.
He employs a gentle filtration, and keeps the addition of sodium dioxide to a minimum, respecting the character of the wine and allowing it to evolve in the bottle.
Wines
Beaujolais Rosé d’Folie
Beaujolais Cuvée Première
Beaujolais l’Ancien (vieilles vignes)
Morgon
Moulin-à-vent
