Saint Amour, Jean Paul Brun Terres Dorees 2021

Jean Paul Brun St Amour is an attractively soft yet complex wine that, as the name would suggest, is lovely! The wine is packed with layers of dark red berry fruit, floral notes and most importantly a graphite freshness which brings the wine together. St Amour is both the newest and most northerly of Beaujolais’ 10 Cru villages. The village is almost split in two with the newer part at the foot of the hill and the old village with its beautiful square and church at the top of the hill. It’s a cracking spot that has lovely views of Maconnais to the north and Beaujolais to the south.

Jean-Paul founded Domaine Terres Dorees in 1979 with four hectares of vineyards around his hometown of Charnay. His vineyard holdings have expanded nearly as much as his reputation as the Godfather of Beaujolais (I may have coined that phrase) and he now farms over 60 hectares which includes prime sites in the Cru Villages of Morgon, Moulin a Vent, Fleurie and St Amour. During the 1980s and 1990s Beaujolais captured the public imagination with Beaujolais Nouveau and a style of wine that was young, fruity, not very serious and smelt more like bubble-gum and bananas than wine. Jean Paul hated this style and wanted to make wine in a more traditional way that expressed the grape and the terroir. He has always farmed organically, and steers clear of manipulating the wines via carbon maceration, thermo-vinification and yeast inoculation which have become the norm in Beaujolais. He also believes his wines taste better at lower alcohol levels so does not add extra sugar (chapitalise) to raise alcohol levels. The resulting wines all have great complexity along with the juicy, almost sappy fruit associated with Beaujolais.