Lots of stone and soil but enough ripeness of fruit to balance. Pretty nice and one of the better '08s.

Leaner with higher acid and less fruit than the Fleurie. Unappealing.

The overly concentrated, overly sweet end of '09 Beaujolais. Very ripe and candied, but it has a licorice twist for some interest. Too heavy.

Finer and more floral and lacy than the Regnie. The best of the 4 Sunier wines.

Vegetal and dilute. Shows the worst of the vintage.

Dark color, deep rich fruit. Impressive mouthful even if simple at present. Tasted after an anemic '08, this was pretty striking.

Sulfur, thin, astringent. Yuck.

Sappy, vinous, and seductive with some greener tones to add complexity. One of my top 2 wines tonight.

Tasted after the Thevenet, this is less weighty, more fine grained, backward, and pungent. This is the wrong order in which to pour these since it makes the Lapierre appear less generous than it really is on its own.

Anise and blackberry with good amplitude and much less bite and austerity than this bottling can show in less generous years.

Magnum. Much lighter color and weight than the '09. Dry, acidic, and deficient in fruit.

Light, great purity, liveliness and typicity. Dynamite entry level wine.

Fragrant, light, elegant, and zippy. Like the Brun Ancien, a terrific basic cuvee.

The densest and ripest of the Brun wines with ripe cherry fruit and a long, pungent finish. Not the epitome of elegance but very good.

Brown spices. Lighter, less ripe style than the Cote de Brouilly with a strong squirt of acidity thrown in at the end to lift it a bit.

Still a step finer, lacier, and more elegant than the Morgon. This whole range from Brun is impressive, and each wine expresses its terroir and personality beautifully.

Pure red fruit, some green elements, surprising finishing sap gives the wine more palate presence than the light entry suggests.

A big step up from the regular cuvee in concentration, soil, and tannin. Here the fruit clearly veers toward blackberry. At the top of the heap for me along with the Thevenet, but completely different, much more foreboding, serious style that begs for time rather than sliding down effortlessly now.

Not really well sequenced after the Roilette Tardive as this is back to more typical, wispy weight. Floral with anise notes and a tart finish. Like all of the '08s tasted tonight, the fruit is a little muted, but good wine nonetheless.

Piquant strawberry scented sparkler, moderately sweet. Gulpable and a fun way to finish the tasting.