Domaine JP, C & L Jamet

This leading estate situated high in the hills above Ampuis was established by Joseph Jamet in 1950; his sons Jean-Paul and Jean-Luc joined him in the 1970s. In 2013, however, the brothers went their separate ways and established their own operations.

Whereas Jean-Luc embraced new barrels, Jean-Paul continued working in a determinedly traditional fashion – avoiding new oak, using whole bunch fermentation and opting for relatively light extraction. The resulting wines have great clarity, purity, freshness and complexity.

Almost all Jean-Paul’s plots are on schist towards the northern half of the appellation, and his parcels can be found on top lieux-dits such as La Côte Blonde, La Landonne, Fongeant and Chavaroche. Most of the output here goes into their Côte-Rôtie classique, blended across the hillside. He has always made a pure Côte Brune however, which is consistently among the very best wines of the appellation. A more recent addition is Fructas Voluptas, a more accessible Côte-Rôtie that partly includes purchased fruit and is mostly destemmed.

Their Condrieu (named Vernillon as it’s a blend between lieux-dits Vernon and Côte Chatillon) is unique at the time of writing in that it’s matured exclusively in clay amphorae. Jean-Paul is gradually handing over winemaking responsibility to his son Loïc – a safe pair of hands.