Battle of the Bojos: Jean-Paul Brun vs Pierre Marie Chermette

WINE TALK
1

This past weekend I had the chance to open two Bojos side by side to see how they were doing. Admittedly, it wasn’t completely fair, the Chermette was 2007 and the JP Brun was 2008. That extra year was really important, as I’ve had 2007 JP Brun and it was completely different from the 2008.

The 2008 JP Brun Terres Dorees Vieilles Vignes L’Ancien Beaujolais was the first victim. Right from the start, this smelled gorgeous of light cherries and earth, yet was completely tight and unforgiving. Things in the mouth had yet to come together. This was like looking at the sketch of a beautiful suit, handling and choosing the fabric, but not finishing the stitching job. We decanted this for several hours, and it still refused to come to the party. Smell was great, taste was just not there. I’m holding my remaining bottles for a few more months to let the wine improve as the nose offered lots of promise. The 2007 of this is absolutely fantastic, BTW.

Compare to that, the 2007 Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Cuvee Traditionelle Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes was a sex bomb on the nose and in the mouth. With a sappy smell of cherries and light fruit and plums wrapping a core of earth and smoke, you just wanted to sit there smelling it. The palate was similar with a gorgeous mouthfeel that was almost velvety and ended with some crisp minerality with a long finish. Beautiful.

OK, so it wasn’t a real battle, more of a skirmish.
Cheers! [cheers.gif]

2

That’s funny, I’ve been drinking these as well. Love the Vissoux and the 2008 L’Ancien is not even close. I expected the latter to be better and it really isn’t up to the standards of the '07. I’m not sure that it will ever be as good, although I appreciate your optimism.

We’re down to the last bottle of the Vissoux VV Traditionelle. It goes down fast. An excellent, flexible food wine.

3

It’s easier for me to find the Vissoux, so I drink a lot more of it. Lovely wine that has never let me down. I haven’t tried the 2008 L’Ancien, but I’ve enjoyed several previous vintages. Well made Beaujolais makes me happy, it’s an exhilarating and restorative wine.

-Al

4

Love the Vissoux. It seems like, given the vintage constraints, the quality of these wines are better every year.

5

I think if the JP Brun had been 2007 it might have been a more even fight, but the 2008 is so closed down that it’s just not even coming out to play. I’ve had the 2007 and it’s just awesome. The 08 smells great, which leads me to think with some bottle age it will improve, but right now that’s all we were getting.