Pinot Noir Bourgogne
100% Pinot Noir. Jean-Paul Brun's estate is in the rolling hills of Charnay in the southern Beaujolais, where the main grape of the area and his property too is of course Gamay. But the clay-limestone soils here are friendly to other varieties, particularly Pinot Noir (as well as Chardonnay and Roussanne, both of which he grows here); Jean-Paul began planting Pinot in 1991 and now has a total of 5 hectares. The farming is organic, the harvest by hand and the sorting of the bunches meticulous. The vinification is traditional Burgundian: the grapes are destemmed and fermented with native yeasts and without sulfur in concrete vats. Maceration lasts around 3 weeks. The wine is aged in concrete--with an occasional touch of large old oak vat--and bottled with a light, non-sterile filtration and minimal sulfur. The Pinot Noir is classified simply as Bourgogne AC.