Brun “Terres Dorées” 2008 Beaujolais “l’Ancien” (Beaujolais) – Bought on closeout, but I’d forgotten the type of closure until it was too late. So this is harsher and far more advanced than the wine deserves, a razor-wire slash of acidity and lacerating red fruit with no generosity or fun to it. Blame the plug, not the wine…and also, blame the buyer, who should have remembered to open this years ago. Back in the day, this was delish. (7/11)
Browse Tag
brun
Paul Simon came up with 50 more
JP Brun “FRV100” (Beaujolais) – “Aged” (by which, of course, I mean forgotten in the cellar) for about a year. My initial reaction is that the boisterous, bubbly fruit has faded a bit, but it’s marginal enough that I could easily be self-suggesting same. It’s still good. Good fun. (5/10)
Roussanne, don’t walk away
JP Brun “Terres Dorées” 2008 Vin de Table Roussanne (Beaujolais) – Bright. A roussanne, bright? Oh yes. Aromatic honeysuckle with other flowers, yes. But not heavy at all. Instead, its fresh with good acidity, and really, really good. (6/10)
Terres it up
JP Brun “Terres Dorées” 2007 Beaujolais Blanc Chardonnay (Beaujolais) – Stone fruit with heat and shortness; I suspect some damage somewhere along the way. (5/10)
One hundred bubbles
JP Brun “FRV 100” (Beaujolais) – I didn’t check the lot code on this bottle, but based on its performance I think it may be part of the previous year’s stock, rather than a new release. (I’m not sure, however.) This suspicion comes from a slightly stumbling stick and chew to the fruit, which carries a little more residue than the fun freshness it usually has. A minor nitpick, perhaps, but then again this was never advertised as an ager. (8/09)
Fields of gold
JP Brun “Terres Dorées” 2007 Beaujolais Blanc (Beaujolais) – Continuing to stand above the Beaujolais Blanc pack (admittedly, I don’t even think I’ve reached a half-dozen examples, although I have no idea how many wines labeled Mâcon that I’ve tasted have been secret brethren), due less to its rich, earthy aromatics than its more vibrant palate presence and firmer structure. Still one of my favorite French chardonnays, given a certain and deliberate personal poverty within that category. (9/09)
Defoliation
JP Brun 2006 Beaujolais Rosé “d’folie” (Beaujolais) – Sunlit berries with squirts of ripe blood orange. The wine pulses rather than flows, but it’s quite engaging amidst the peaks and troughs. (12/08)
TGV towards Marseilles
JP Brun “FRV100” (Beaujolais) – Turning sweeter, mostly because the fruit is starting to diminish. The last few bottles of this have been all over the map, which suggests to me that it’s nearing the end of its most useful period. But who knows, really? (10/08)
TGV to FRV
JP Brun “FRV100” (Beaujolais) – I would normally say that I could never get tired of drinking this, but after a summer of doing just that, I find that the persistent sticky character to the fruit is just a little enervating, and despite the unmistakable appeal to those who are having their first encounter with its charms (I’m serving this at a non-geek dinner party), I’m left a bit bereft of enchantment. This is a very fun wine, but ultimately I think the Bugey Cerdon is more compelling, perhaps because it’s just less slutty. None of this should be taken as a denouncement of the wine, which is eminently recommendable and incomparably drinkable. I’m just full of jaded ennui, and not to my credit. (10/08)
One dollar
JP Brun Vin Mousseux “FRV100” (Beaujolais) – How can fruit be both concentrated and light? It’s like the essence of something late-summery…strawberries, perhaps, or maybe cloudberries, writ pink, midly frothy, and immensely appealing. This is more “winey” than the similarly-constructed wines of Bugey-Cerdon, and it’s definitely heftier, but it’s no less an interpretation of a fun, quaffing “soda pop’ for adults. (8/08)