Julien Sunier - Regnie 2021

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Julien Sunier Description

Site & Vines: 3 ha of old vines on sandy granite, at the foot of the Côte de Py, just outside of Morgon.

Vinification & Elevage: Indigenous yeast fermentations in concrete vats at low temperatures, to preserve fresh fruit flavors and a delicate tannic structure. Partial carbonic fermentation. After fermentations are complete, fruit is slowly pressed, over a 24 hour period, using an ancient vertical press Julien acquired in the Côte D’Or.

Aging: aged primarily in neutral French barrels, occasionally with a small percentage of concrete.

Notes: A prime site for the often overlooked Cru of Régnié, which gives a certain depth of character and presence to the wine vintage in and vintage out. That said, Régnié remains the most immediately approachable of Julien's 3 crus with a certain softness and upfront juiciness.

Vinous: 91 Points

The 2021 Régnié is Sunier's 15th vintage for Julien Sunier from 4 hectares, half on granite and half on alluvial soils. This is 100% carbonic maceration matured 30% in foudres and 70% in used 15-20-year-old barrels. It has a more tertiary aromas with touches of pressed flowers and a touch of wild mint. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, edgy and slightly chalky towards the finish that coheres beautifully in the glass. - Neal Martin

A View from the Cellar: 90 Points

Julien Sunier’s 2021 Régnié was made from impossibly tiny yields of eighteen hectoliters per hectare. The wine was fermented with native yeasts and raised half in older Burgundy casks and half in foudres, with the wine coming in at 11.8 percent octane this year. It has good color for the vintage and offers up a complex bouquet of black cherries, dark berries, fresh thyme, chicory, brown spices and a lovely base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is medium-full, bright and nicely structured, with tangy acids, modest tannins, a good core and soil signature and a long, nascently complex finish. This is still tightly-knit and could do with a year or two of bottle age to relax its acids and tannins and really blossom. It is quite a good middleweight in the making. - John Gilman