2015 Domaine Anthony Thévenet, Morgon, Vielles Vignes, Cru Beaujolais, France.
The 2015 Domaine Anthony Thévenet Morgon “Vieilles Vignes” is a generous and smooth drinking Cru Beaujolais with pure Gamay juiciness that provides endless enjoyment and is an exceptional value for what it get in the glass or bottle, which includes grapes sourced from all organic vines that were planted between1865 and1935 and set on the classic sandy soils with schist and blue granite of upper elevation Morgon, one of the region’s best crus. Fermented and aged naturally in mainly concrete with partial carbonic and bottled without additions, except for a small dose sulfur and or finning or filtering, the Anthony Thévenet is all about tradition and purity showing layers of black raspberry, plum and cherry fruits to start along with hints of walnut, stony mineral, truffle and anise. Uniquely in the cellar to keep the texture silky, Anthony doesn’t do punch-downs or pump-overs and the wine is moved only with gentle gravity flow. Interesting, Anthony Thévenet is not related to the famous Thévenets in the region, Jean-Paul, who is one of the most famous producers in Morgon and Fleurie history, and his son Charly, that is now making the wines, are not related, which would seem weird, but then you find out that Thévenet is actually an extremely common last name around these parts. That said, this was my first experience with Anthony’s wines and I was happily impressed with the nature of this wine and found it completely charming. Served to me at cellar temperature, this old vine Morgon gained a lovely strawberry note and the aromatic really perked up while it opened in the glass
Anthony Thévenet, who has put time in with some legendary winemakers, honing his own skills, is part of the new generation of vignerons in Cru Beaujolais that are driven by passion and driven by the love of place and history, making wines that are true to traditions and with a respect for the land. Mostly, including Thévenet are devotees of Jules Chauvet, who almost single handedly turned the region around by pursuing organic and natural style wines, rejecting industrial farming and mass production, his influence is still felt today in the wines here, as well as In the wines from his mentors, as well as local heros such as Lapierre, Dutraive, the Bretons and the other namesake Thévenets. In 2010, Thévenet inherited his grandfather’s vineyard in Villié-Morgon, with awesome old vine parcels that are 40-150 years old. Anthony worked for the legendary Jean Foillard, along with George Descombes in the vineyard and in the cellars. He released his first vintage in 2013, which he handcrafts in the vin naturel style, after working closely with Decombes and Foillard gave him time to fine tune his own wines. Thévenet works and lives among his vines with animals, so it is important that the environment is healthy and he has, as his importer T. Edwards says, a steadfast devotion to his vines and the terroir with a huge respect for those that came before him. The vineyards are all farmed organically with no chemicals and no pesticides all by hand and sorting is done directly in the vineyard. The wines see a mix of old wood and concrete tank, and get 10 to 25 days of carbonic maceration and rest in the cement for 8 months. I am now excited to try the more current vintages, especially the 2019 and the upcoming 2020s.
($28 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive