Julien Sunier, Burgundian by birth, has quickly established his eponymous domaine as a top address in Beaujolais for expertly-crafted wines. His style walks a tight-rope of elegance between the worlds of naturally and classically
precise winemaking.

Sunier struck out on his own in 2008 after gaining deep experience working with the various Crus of Beaujolais while leading winemaking at Mommessin. He chose to set up shop in a remote farmhouse in the small village of Avenas, surrounded by forest and facing west towards the mountains. Julien has the great privilege of organically and biodynamically farming old-vines across several of Beaujolais’ top Crus including Régnié, Fleurie, and Morgon.

Sunier leaves a Burgundian fingerprint on all of the wines that he crafts. While his wines are produced using carbonic maceration, he utilizes submerged-cap techniques during fermentation which help reduce some of the fruitier and creamier carbonic characteristics. Sunier emphasizes infusion over extraction during this process. After primary fermentation in concrete, his wines are pressed over the course of 24-hours in an ancient wooden basket press that he acquired in the Cote d’Or. Interestingly, his childhood friend Christophe Roumier supplies Julien with many of the used barriques in his cellar.

The wines of Julien Sunier perfectly capture the true essence of gamay. Across his lineup of wines, the bright fruit character of gamay is lain across a chiseled granite foundation. You can sense that the soils he farms are shallow and rocky with the pink granite bedrock not far beneath the surface. “I like to make gamay with freshness, because for me a good wine is an empty bottle,” he told Noble Rot as detailed in their book Wine from Another Galaxy. “There’s less money (in Beaujolais) than other wine regions, so life is simpler.
This is a bottle of wine, man! Keep cool!”

While drinking Sunier you can sense both the Burgundian drive for excellence and the joie de vivre of Beaujolais in harmony.
These wines are compelling, built for pleasure, and deliver on the table.