At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Producer
- Fabien Duperray's domaine
- Red grape
- Gamay
- White grape
- Chardonnay
- Red places
- Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent
- White place
- Mâconnais, with Christophe Thibert
- Defining cellar choice
- Concrete tanks and glass vessels, with no oak barrels
The Producer
Jules Chauvet supplies the first name in Domaine Jules Desjourneys. Fabien Duperray's domaine works with Gamay in Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent, alongside a Chardonnay project in the Mâconnais. The red holdings cover 7 hectares, while the white vineyards are farmed with Christophe Thibert across 10 hectares.
The domaine practices biodynamic viticulture while its wines are labeled organic. Its cellar avoids oak barrels, using concrete tanks and glass vessels for ageing.
Place
Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent are the Beaujolais homes of the domaine's Gamay vineyards. Chénas also appears in the red range through Le Jugement Dernier. Chardonnay comes from the Mâconnais, giving the domaine a second regional address and a different grape variety.
The red wines therefore move through three named Beaujolais places, while the white work remains tied to the Mâconnais partnership. The labels carry different place names, but the domaine's cellar methods extend across the range.
Story
Fabien Duperray works with Christophe Thibert on 10 hectares of Chardonnay in the Mâconnais. The first vintage from that partnership was 2014. The project placed Chardonnay beside the domaine's Gamay vineyards in Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent, creating a range with red wines from Beaujolais and white wine from the Mâconnais.
Vineyards And Cellar
The vineyards are worked biodynamically, although the wines are labeled organic rather than biodynamic certified. For the red wines, destemming is kept to a minimum. Destemming removes stems before fermentation; here, the grapes are fermented with most of that material still present. There is no pigeage, which means the fermenting cap is not punched down, and remontage, the movement of liquid over the cap, is kept very soft.
Ageing takes place in concrete tanks and glass vessels instead of oak barrels. Sulfur is added in the second year after fermentation, allowing the aromas to develop before they are stabilized.
Wines
The red range includes Fleurie Chapelle des Bois and Fleurie Les Moriers, Moulin-à-Vent L'Éphémère and Moulin-à-Vent Styx, and Chénas Le Jugement Dernier. These are named Gamay wines from separate Beaujolais places. The white side of the domaine comes from Chardonnay in the Mâconnais.
The bottles cover different shapes within the red range. A Moulin-à-Vent wine is noted for fine texture and modest tannin, while Chénas Le Jugement Dernier is associated with massive body. The range therefore moves from lighter tactile detail to fuller, deeper wines without leaving Gamay.
In The Glass
Moulin-à-Vent 2015 is intensely concentrated but remains fresh, with a stony mineral undercurrent and firm, refined tannins. Its dark fruit develops toward florality, and the finish carries a saline flavor.
Moulin-à-Vent Styx 2017 is very floral, with black cherry notes and tannin and acidity that already feel refined. Fleurie Les Moriers 2017 is floral and expressive, combining concentration with freshness. Chénas Le Jugement Dernier 2017 has very deep color, black cherry and blackberry, followed by complex herbs and spices. The palate brings concentration, depth, freshness and good acidity.
A Bottle To Understand It
Moulin-à-Vent L'Éphémère 2022 is the bottle to open first. It is a Gamay from Moulin-à-Vent with dark ripe fruit, herbal spice, chalky tannins and a savory finish. The combination puts the named place, grape and the domaine's darker red register in one bottle.
Anecdote
At 43, Fabien Duperray had worked for at least 25 years as a distributor of Burgundy domaines. In 2007, he decided to become a winegrower when an opportunity arose to acquire parcels of old vines in Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent. Those parcels became the beginning of Domaine Jules Desjourneys and its Gamay holdings.
Final Word
Domaine Jules Desjourneys joins Gamay from Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent and Chénas with Chardonnay from a Mâconnais partnership. The red wines are made with minimal destemming and soft remontage, then aged in concrete and glass.