Beaujolais L'Ancien Les Terres Dorées, Jean-Paul Brun 2022

Jean-Paul Brun is undoubtedly the best-known producer in the south of Beaujolais. This is the so-called Pays des Pierres Dorées, named after the golden coloured limestone, much quarried for building material. Jean-Paul is based in Charnay, a village just north of Lyon.

Viticulture is important here although it shares the hillsides with other forms of agriculture. Most of the wines are simple and sold as Beaujolais Nouveau, but Jean-Paul is the exception, and aims for a more complex, food-friendly style.

He started in 1977 with just four hectares, and now has 30, as well as 15 hectares of vineyard plots on the granite soils of some of the Beaujolais crus – Fleurie, Moulin à Vent, Morgon and Côte de Brouilly. The vineyard is in the process of conversion to biodynamic viticulture.

Particular specialities include his chardonnay, which accounts for eight hectares of his vines, as well as L’Ancien, a gamay made from old vines.

Jean Paul’s winemaking is much more Burgundian and traditional than most of his neighbours, with wines fermenting in vats before ageing in cement or oak. He believes in minimal intervention, and chooses not to add industrial yeasts, which are often responsible for the ‘bubblegum’ style of some generic Beaujolais. Nor does he practise chaptalisation (adding sugar to the must to increase alcohol), which explains why alcohol levels are lower.