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.
Following Jean’s succulent 2017 vintage, his 2018 wines are superb. He’s one rare winemakers who produces something captivating each vintage regardless the conditions.
2018 is a vintage full of sumptuous fruit and silky texture, emphasizing vibrant, detailed dark and red fruit, attractive floral and spice qualities – they offer delicious succulence as young wines, and as always they are wonderfully balanced.Another Foillard vintage you can put deep in the cellar, that is if you can keep your hands off them !
William Kelley End of May 2020, The Wine Advocate : “As I wrote last year, it’s an open secret that this is one of the region’s finest as well as 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 are typically models of aromatic purity and graceful aging. I regularly purchase these wines for my own cellar and warmly recommend them to readers.”
95 points, William Kelley – Wine Advocate (Aug 2022) “Foillard’s 2020 Morgon Côte du Py bursts with aromas of peonies, orange rind, exotic spices and dark berries. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it’s deep and concentrated, with a rich core of fruit, tangy acids, powdery tannins and a long, sapid finish. Intensely flavored and incisive, at this early stage the 2020 looks to be one of the finest vintages of this cuvée in recent years. Drink 2021 – 2040”
95 points, JamesSuckling.com: “Racy wild strawberries and raspberries with white pepper, agave and dried herbs. Fresh, medium-bodied palate with silky, refined tannins spreading evenly across the palate. Juicy and bright finish with lovely, herbal allure. Extremely drinkable now, but will hold, too”
Limited Our Price $109.99
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