GRANDES MISES
JULIÉNAS 2020
Grape varietal
100% Gamay Noir with white juice.
Tasting notes
A bright ruby red dress with violets hues.
The nose is very delicate, showing aromas of red fruits and crushed strawberry.
A great mineral wine in the mouth, well-bodied with a real 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 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
Harvest started on the Julienas plots on September 2020, the 12th.
The harvest was collected by our partner-growers, and then placed in a concrete vat by gravity. “Burgundy-style” vinification, the grapes were 100% whole bunches. The fermentation maceration which lasted 15-18 days with cap-punching, over-pumping and racking.
The wine was then aged 8 months in tank on fine lies.
Bottled in May 2021 with a light filtration.
39 500 bottles in total.
Vintage : 2020
Winter 2019-2020 was the warmest in France since the beginning of the 20th century. There was no hard frost at all. The average temperatures in the Beaujolais region over the first four months of the year were the mildest since 1947! Very fine grapes that are extremely aromatic. The quantity of the harvest has varied from appellation to appellation and terroir to terroir. Intense colour and good acidity.
This year we have favoured destemming with long maceration periods to really bring out the elegance of this vintage. Obviously, the traditional semi-carbonic maceration approach used in tandem with vendange entière is still called for to draw out our Gamay's aromatic subtlety, not to mention hot pre-fermentative maceration to extract as much colour as possible from the grapes that were most affected by drought.
The initial tastings offer a journey through the senses that's intense and complex, a real pleasure for the taste buds, with aromas of raspberry, cherry, morello cherry and even pear! It's a real delight to test the must with all the gorgeous colours it exhibits! Mouth-filling despite high levels of acidity in some cases. The wines are supple, round and smooth, well-structured with supple, silky tannins. An elegant vintage in the making.
