Juliénas

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical area is established on the eastern slopes of the northern Beaujolais Mountains, mainly on the south-facing side of the Mont de Bessay, which rises to 478 metres.
• Three substrates coexist: a base of pink granite giving a sandy grus, argilo-siliceous colluvium to the east of the village of Juliénas, and greenish schists of volcano-sedimentary origin on the upper slopes.
• The plots delimited for the harvest are situated at altitudes between 225 and 450 metres, on slopes facing east, south, and south-west.
• The climate is oceanic, subject to continental and southern influences, with a mean annual temperature close to 11°C and rainfall distributed regularly throughout the year.
• The Beaujolais Mountains protect the vineyards from westerly winds and induce a foehn effect that dries the air, increasing luminosity and reducing rainfall, while the broad Saône valley provides abundant light and channels southerly influences characterised by intense summer heat.

• Tradition attributes the origin of the names Juliénas and Jullié to Julius Caesar, whose legions are said to have camped there during the conquest of Gaul, and regards this two-thousand-year-old vineyard as the original heartland of Beaujolais.
• The Château de Juliénas and its cellars date from the thirteenth century, while the Château du Bois de la Salle, built in 1660, became three centuries later the home of the cooperative winery.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée Juliénas was officially recognised by the decree of 11 March 1938, a fact also confirmed by the Wikipedia summary.
• Producers manage the vigour of Gamay through high planting density and short pruning, and sometimes train the vines on a fixed trellis system that facilitates mechanisation.
• Winemaking combines traditional fermentation with semi-carbonic maceration, with the practice of vinifying the harvest from the finest plots separately and of featuring the names of reputed lieux-dits on the labels.

• The colour of the wine is a violet-red that deepens and intensifies with age.
• The nose frequently reveals floral and fruity notes that develop spicy nuances with age, while the palate is lively, well-structured, and marked by a certain minerality.

• The heat and strong sunshine, particularly on the clay sectors, give the wines a wild character and sometimes notable tannins.
• The site's openness onto the broad Saône plain ensures a level of luminosity favourable to the chlorophyll activity of the vine.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — Inter Beaujolais