Terres Dorées

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.

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.

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.”