France

Fabien Duperray is one of the leading fine wine agents in Burgundy, representing DRC, Arnaud Ente and Coche-Dury among others. So he knows great wine – and has a good idea how to make it too. In 2007 he purchased ancient Gamay vineyards in Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent (some over 140 years old), and also has Chardonnay parcels in a range of Côte Maconnais appellations (shared with Christophe Thibert). Farming is biodynamic and yields are very low; the main focus is making the most balanced, age-worthy wines possible.Fabien is a force-of-nature and very confident in his methods, although rather than put his own name on the label, his domaine is 'Jules Desjourneys': Jules after the late, great Beaujolais vigneron Jules Chauvet, and Desjourneys "because I liked how it sounded next to Jules".Reds come from three crus: Chénas, Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent, with certain parcels (such as Fleurie 'Chapelle des Bois') bottled separately in some years. Older vintages were raised for 24 months in barrel, but Fabien decided that he wanted "more terroir and less François Frères" in the wines, so has phased out oak in favour of steel and glass. 2015 is the first completely unoaked vintage and recent experiments with friend Arnaud Ente have led to the patenting of 200L and 500L glass fermenters.Whites hail from Macon-Verzé, St-Veran and three of the Pouillys (Loché, Vinzelles and Fuissé) and are all made in tank with the exception of the Pouilly-Fuissé and Pouilly-Fuissé 'Vignes Blanches'.These wines are built with the harmony and quality to age for the long-term but – like the top quality red and white Burgundies that they call to mind – there is a drinkability to them that makes it difficult to resist pulling their corks immediately.

Jules Desjourneys

Wines

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