Terres Dorées

  • Bourgogne, Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Fleurie, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
Terres Dorées

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this producer profile: 

(Click here for more on Terres Dorées on Louis/Dressner's website)

Jean Paul Brun is located in Charnay, a village in the Southern Beaujolais just north of Lyon, in a beautiful area known as the "Terres Dorées" or Region of Golden Stones. Brun is the owner and winemaker at this 60+ hectare family estate and has attracted the attention of the French and American press for the wonderfully fruity and delicate wines he produces.

Brun wants to make "old-style" Beaujolais and his vinification differs from the prevailing practices in the region. He believes that the charm of Gamay's fruit is best expressed by the grapes' indigenous yeasts, rather than by adding industrial yeast. Virtually all Beaujolais is now made by adding a particular yeast during fermentation. Known as 71B, this yeast is a laboratory product made in Holland from a tomato base, which imparts wines with banana and candy aromas. It produces a beverage, but with no authenticity and little charm. Brun, on the other hand, wants to make a pure Gamay wine.

Brun's view is that Beaujolais drinks best at a lower degree of alcohol and that there is no need to systematically add sugar to the must (chaptalize) to reach alcohol levels of 12 to 13 degrees. His Beaujolais is made to be pleasurable - light, fruity and delicious - not an artificially inflated wine that shines at tasting competitions.

Only a minimal amount of S02 is used at bottling to keep the wine fresh and "headache-free". Fermentation naturally produces a lot of CO2, which acts as protection against oxidation during aging; leaving some in the wine at bottling time also helps to keep it fresh. Filtration is also minimal so that the wine keeps its original fruit and aromas. Brun’s wines are not ‘blockbusters’ in the sense of ‘big.’ The emphasis is not on weight, but on fruit: Beaujolais as it once was and as it should be.

Brun’s Nouveaus were rated as the top Nouveau of the vintage by France’s Gault Millau magazine several years in a row. Robert Parker has rated Brun as a four-star producer (the only other Beaujolais producers with four stars are in the Crus) and has written about his wines:

“Proprietor Brun is a believer in using only the vineyard’s wild yeast, rather than the synthetic yeasts used by most other producers. His beautiful wines are favorites among purists.”

2020 Update:
Starting with just four hectares of vines, Jean-Paul has truly created a self-made empire. After progressively expanding around his native Charnay in the southern Beaujolais, he began experimenting with a Cerdon-like sparkling wine called "FRV100" and a Crémant de Bourgogne, then planted some Pinot Noir and Roussanne on his clay and limestone soils and eventually started bottling those as well.

In the mid 2000's, Jean-Paul set out to conquer Beaujolais' crus. He currently owns land and produces from most of them, including the most recent addition of single vineyard cuvées. All told, he now produces well over 20 different wines from over 60 hectares of vines and shows no sign of slowing down.

Image Producer PRODUCT Description Country / Region

DB8331-22
Organic
Terres Dorées FRV 100 Rosé (2022)
NV
Gamay
100% Gamay. From Jean-Paul Brun's organically farmed estate Gamay vines on clay-limestone soils in hilly Charnay in the southern Beaujolais...
France

DB8956-22
Organic
Terres Dorées Chardonnay Beaujolais Blanc
2022
Chardonnay
100% Chardonnay. On his home estate in hilly Charnay in the southern Beaujolais, Jean-Paul Brun started planting Chardonnay in 1983 on the...
France

DB0429-22
Organic
Terres Dorées Beaujolais "Rosé d'Folie"
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. From Jean-Paul Brun’s organically farmed, old vines on clay-limestone soils in the hills of Charnay in the southern Beaujolais...
France

DB1123-22
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Pinot Noir Bourgogne
2022
Pinot Noir
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...
France

DB8957-22
Organic
Terres Dorées Beaujolais L'Ancien Vieilles Vignes
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. L'Ancien comes from Jean Paul's oldest vines--hence the name of the wine--in his home village of Charnay in the southern...
France

DB0307-21
Sustainable
WA:90+
Terres Dorées Morgon
2021
Gamay
100% Gamay. From the Bellevue lieu-dit in Morgon near the Côte du Py. The vines are planted on a slight, south-facing slope on ...
France

DB0307-22
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Morgon
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. From the Bellevue lieu-dit in Morgon near the Côte du Py. The vines are planted on a slight, south-facing slope on ...
France

DB0308-22
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Fleurie
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. Jean-Paul farms 6 hectares in Fleurie, all of it in the celebrated lieu-dit of Grille Midi, a south-facing...
France

DB0310-21
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Côte de Brouilly
2021
Gamay
100% Gamay. The Côte de Brouilly is the steep, hilly heart of the larger Brouilly cru and was Jean-Paul's first cru bottling in the early...
France

DB0310-22
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Côte de Brouilly
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. The Côte de Brouilly is the steep, hilly heart of the larger Brouilly cru and was Jean-Paul's first cru bottling in the early...
France

DB8819-21
Sustainable
WA:92+
Terres Dorées Morgon Côte du Py-Javernières
2021
Gamay
100% Gamay. From a one-hectare parcel in the Javernières lieu-dit at the foot of the famed Côte du Py hill, noted for the iron-rich clay...
France

DB0309-22
Sustainable
Terres Dorées Moulin-à-Vent
2022
Gamay
100% Gamay. Jean-Paul's Moulin-à-Vent comes from 30-45-year-old vines in the lieu-dit called La Tour du Bief. They are midslope on...
France

DB3959-15
Sustainable
JS:93 VM:93
Terres Dorées Moulin-à-Vent "La Rochelle" (LIBRARY)
2015
Gamay
100% Gamay. Jean-Paul bottles a straight Moulin-à-Vent but additionally does two lieu-dit-specific versions. This one is La...
France

DB3974-15
Sustainable
VM:93
Terres Dorées Moulin-à-Vent "Les Thorins" (LIBRARY)
2015
Gamay
100% Gamay. Jean-Paul bottles a straight Moulin-à-Vent but additionally does two lieu-dit-specific versions: this one is Les...
France

DB0376-23
Organic
Terres Dorées Beaujolais Nouveau L'Ancien
2023
Gamay
100% Gamay. The Terres Dorées L'Ancien vines are Jean Paul's oldest vines at 40-60 years old. They grow on the sandy clay-limestone hills...
France