Description
Jean Foillard is one of the great winemakers in France and, in his hands, wine is no ordinary thing. Jean and his wife Agnès live just outside the small village of Ville-Morgon in a large, old white farmhouse that they have renovated beautifully. Jean started making wine in 1982; first at the family domaine then after a few years he branched out on his own and started to rent and buy his own holdings (including a large, perfect parcel on the Côte du Py: the most celebrated climat in all of Beaujolais).
Jean Foillard is a fervent supporter, like Marcel Lapierre, of the natural wine growing and making methods of the legendary Jules Chauvet. This includes keeping whole clusters of grapes in vats for 2 to 3 weeks at a low temperature before fermentation, using only natural yeast, no pumping, no fining and no filtration. Furthermore he ages his wine in barrels brought from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti….. the results are sublime. He is a cult wine hero amongst the very many young, free-spirited vignerons in France who are now looking back to nature to make fine wine.
Morgon from Foillard shows wonderfully fresh, pure aromas of cherries and blackberries combined with a haunting, otherworldly complexity that is distinctly Foillard. The word diaphanous is perfect to describe the aromas of his wines; you can almost smell through them. In the mouth, again there’s a wonderful transparency. Crunchy, fresh fruit is complemented by a satiny, silky structure and some delicate spice. Elegant, soft, smooth and pure, in many ways these wines have more in common sensually with Chambolle-Musigny than regular, ‘run of the mill’ Beaujolais. A must try wine for wine lovers who have not yet discovered this treasure of ‘true’ Beaujolais.
2019 has provided wines that are at the more succulent, juicy and fresh end of the spectrum; thus quite different to the 2018 wines. Jean is one of the rare winemakers who is able to produce something captivating each vintage regardless the conditions. Another Foillard vintage you can put deep in the cellar, that is if you can keep your hands off them!
“2019 is a vintage full of the sumptuous fruit and silky texture that Jean is always able to harness, yet this vintage has a lighter frame emphasizing vibrant jellied red fruit, very attractive floral and spice aromas and caressingly silky mouthfeel – they all offer delicious succulence as young wines, and as always they are wonderfully balanced.” Importer notes.
” An intensely mineral expression of Beaujolais that makes a good argument for this region, matching the (well known) terroir expression of Burgundy. As pure and focused as it is concentrated with a very long finish that’s all wet stones. Great aging potential! Drink or hold.” 95 points James Suckling
”Deep, shimmering violet. Powerful, spice-tinged red and blue fruit preserve and floral pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of musky earth and licorice. Alluringly sweet and seamless in the mouth, offering sappy, mineral-driven black raspberry, cherry liqueur, lavender and five-spice powder flavors that expand through the back half. Finishes extremely long and nervy, with harmonious tannins building steadily and adding solid grip to reverberating cherry and floral notes. 95 pts Joshua Reynolds, Vinous Media
”The most reserved wine in the range is the 2019 Morgon Côte du Py, a terrific effort that unwinds in the glass with notes of sweet berry fruit, peonies, loamy soil and sweet spices. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with ultra-fine tannins and lively acids, it’s sapid and mouthwatering. Stylistically, this sits somewhere between the richer, riper register of 2018 and 2017 and the fragrant classicism of 2016. As ever, it’s one of the most dependably delicious purchases to be made in the region. As I wrote last year, it’s an open secret that this is one of the region’s finest, most consistent addresses, and followers of the estate won’t be disappointed by the newly released 2018. Jean and Agnès Foillard’s first vintage was in 1981, but it was in 1985 that Jean began to work differently, influenced by his neighbor, the late Marcel Lapierre. Lapierre followed négociant and microbiologist Jules Chauvet in rejecting selected yeasts and manipulative winemaking in favor of minimal effective sulfur dioxide and carbonic maceration at comparatively low temperatures. Today, Foillard remains true to that approach: His Morgon cuvées see some three weeks of maceration in tank before gentle pressing and élevage in used Burgundy barrels. Chaptalization is eschewed. He also gives his wines a little bottle age before release. Despite his identification with the natural wine movement, Foillard has no tolerance for slovenly winemaking practices or flawed wines, and his bottles 94 pts William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
Our Price $99.99 – Limited. Last bottles
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