Grape varietal
100% Gamay Noir with white juice.
Tasting notes
Intense ruby red colour with violets hues.
The delicate nose shows aromas of red fruits and spices.
A nice mineral wine in the mouth, well-bodied with a real yet onctuous structure and velvety tannins.
Serving suggestions
To be served between 15 and 18°C. (59-64°F.)
Food and wine pairing
This wine is perfect with traditional dishes, particularly poultry in sauce such as coq au vin, but also chicken with morel mushrooms, red meats and fat cheeses.
Ageing potential
Origins
The name of Juliénas come from « Jules Caesar ». The vineyard is situated north to Beaujolais vineyard , both at the limit of Gamay area and at the boundary of Chardonnay grape variety area.
The vineyards of Juliénas are, with Saint-Amour, the northern cru of the Beaujolais area, in the very South of Burgundy. They spread over the villages of Juliénas, Jullié, Emeringes and Pruzilly.
Terroir
The Juliénas cru peaks at 466m. Its slopes, often greater than 15%, contain very little granite. The main parent materials of the Juliénas soils are essentially composed of Diorites, hard bluish rocks with clearly visible crystals, microdiorites with a thinner paste and dark, more schistose formations. This is the vintage where the surface texture is the most clayey (15% on average).
Vine and soil
Vineyard age: 48 years old.
Yield: 56 hectoliters per hectar
A rigorous plot selection is made on 2 partners estates.
Vines are planted on varied soils made of deep siliceous rocks, stony soils with ancient alluvium and deep altered granite. They are pruned « en gobelet » and "cordon". They are managed with substainable farming methods.
Vinification and maturing
Harvested by hand at the end of August 2022, the bunches were left intact without destemming and placed in a concrete vat by gravity.
“Burgundy-style” vinification, the grapes were 100% whole bunches. The fermentation maceration lasted 15-18 days with cap-punching, over-pumping and racking.
The wine was then aged 8 months in tank on fine lies.
Light filtration before bottling.
Vintage : 2022
Rainfall in June was highly variable from one area to another. In the south of Beaujolais, where most of the Chardonnays are concentrated, there was little rain, unlike the north, where the crus are located.
The intense heat of July and August accelerated the ripening process for the Gamay grapes. The harvest was characterised by great disparity between the plots. Some grapes did not withstand these extreme conditions and lost a lot of juice, while others resisted them exceptionally well. Several factors explain these divisions such as the heavily drained soil, the exposure, and the age and yield on the vine. There was little difference between the early and late sectors.
The harvest took place from 23 August to 10 September.
Volumes were lower throughout the appellation, but the quality was good.
This year we have focused on de-stemming with long macerations to enhance the wine's elegance. Naturally, our traditional semi-carbonated vinification with whole grapes is still used to extract the aromatic finesse of the Gamay grapes, as well as some hot pre-fermentative maceration to extract as much colour as possible from the grapes that suffered the most from the drought
The wines are beautifully concentrated with a lovely volume in the mouth. Tannins are prominent. Tasting is a real pleasure. The nose and palate reveal raspberry and cherry liqueur aromas, smooth blueberry cream accompanied by violets, dark chocolate and pear.
