Beau Jour Wines - new wine importer for New Zealand
All Black great Beauden Barrett does more than just play outstanding rugby, he is a family man and business entrepreneur.
His newly formed company is Beau Jour - importing wines from France - was launched late 2024 with the first pallet of wines now landed. You’ll need to visit The Wine Room by Dave Nash in Auckland for a look and purchase opportunity.
In the meantime here’s some tasting reflections from the launch on March 24th, 2025.
Julien Brocard 'Vigne de la Boissonneuse' Chablis 2022, Burgundy. The bouquet takes just a little time to open up yet when it does scents of chamomile and oyster shell scents burst into life. Crisp, dry, a satin texture with contrasting and lively acid line. As the wine opens up more flavours of grapefruit and lemon then some peach emerge. A wine of line and length. 92 Points.
L'Oratoire des Papes Blanc, Chateauneuf de Pape 2023, Rhone. I love the bouquet, there's complexity and freshness as well as a layer of spice and mineral, earthiness and barrel spice. These ideas repeat on the palate presented through a dry wine, there’s no mistaking the use of oak and lees in the wine making. The palate continues with flavours of peach and apple, smoke and a touch of vanilla, fine tannins and layers of texture with earthy stony soil complexities. Really good length and finish, rather classic. 93 Points.
Domaine des Creisses 'Les Creisses' Pays d' Herault 2023, Languedoc. A red blend showing excellent fruit impact from the first nose, aromas of dark berries and flinty reductive ferment attributes. Bright, fruity and full of energy and freshness. Dry, a wine with a forward energy, decent fruit and power, med tannins and med+ acid line. Intriguing, well made and ready. 90 Points. Well made, a wine that will age well in your cellar for the next 1-2 years. Drink well now too, perhaps decant for service.
L' Oratoire des Papes Rouge, Chateauneuf du Papes 2022, Rhone. Nice bouquet with violets and red berries, then a forceful stony soil core attribute. Give this wine some time to open out in glass, it will reward you. Firm tannins, dry to very dry, plums and dark berries, stony mineral soil moments, a food wine with a mix of power and warmth, classic, well made and lengthy. 93 Points.
Chateau de Ferrand 'Grand Cru Classe' Saint Emilion 2016, Bordeaux. An immediately enticing bouquet of dark roasted plums, blackberry, soft brown spice, a harmonious quality of soft smoky spices, tilled soils and gentle earth smoke echoes. Earthy to with stony dark brown clay soils, spices from barrel, firm tannins and plenty of acidity for freshness and palate length. Delicious, dry, well made. 94 Points.
Baron Bich (Bic pens) purchased the Chateau in 1978. Today, Chateau Ferrand is run by Bich’s daughter Pauline Bich Chandon-Moët and her husband Philippe Chandon-Moët.
