Jean-Paul Brun - Terres Dorees Cote de Brouilly 2024 (750ml)
Price: $25.99
| Producer | Jean-Paul Brun |
| Country | France |
| Region | Beaujolais |
| Subregion | Cote de Brouilly |
| Varietal | Gamay |
| Vintage | 2024 |
| Sku | 4494 |
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Jean-Paul Brun wants to make "old-style" Beaujolais and his vinification differs from the prevailing practices in the region. He believes that the charm of Gamay's fruit is best expressed by the grapes' indigenous yeasts, rather than by adding industrial yeast. Virtually all Beaujolais is now made by adding a particular yeast during fermentation. Known as 71B, this yeast is a laboratory product made in Holland from a tomato base, which imparts wines with banana and candy aromas. It produces a beverage, but with no authenticity and little charm. Brun, on the other hand, wants to make a pure Gamay wine.
Brun's view is that Beaujolais drinks best at a lower degree of alcohol and that there is no need to systematically add sugar to the must (chaptalize) to reach alcohol levels of 12 to 13 degrees. His Beaujolais is made to be pleasurable - light, fruity and delicious - not an artificially inflated wine that shines at tasting competitions.
Only a minimal amount of S02 is used at bottling to keep the wine fresh and "headache-free". Fermentation naturally produces a lot of CO2, which acts as protection against oxidation during aging; leaving some in the wine at bottling time also helps to keep it fresh. Filtration is also minimal so that the wine keeps its original fruit and aromas. Brun’s wines are not ‘blockbusters’ in the sense of ‘big.’ The emphasis is not on weight, but on fruit: Beaujolais as it once was and as it should be.
Jean-Paul Brun Description
100% Gamay. The Côte de Brouilly is the steep, hilly heart of the larger Brouilly cru and was Jean-Paul's first cru bottling in the early 2000s. He has parcels totalling 4.5 hectares with vines from 50 to 60 years old, generally mid-slope and at up to 400 meters in elevation and with expositions mainly to the south (though with one east-facing one, key for freshness and balance in the wine). The soils are decomposed granite of volcanic origin are rich in iron and lie over hard granite rock. As for all Terres Dorées wines, the vinification of the Côte de Brouilly is traditional Burgundian: the bunches are destemmed and fermented with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete tank. The maceration lasts 3-4 weeks (the Côte de Brouilly and Fleurie are the shortest macerations). The wine is aged in concrete for 6-8 months and bottled with a light, non-sterile filtration and minimal sulfur.
