2020 Jean Foillard, Morgon “Côte du Py” Cru Beaujolais, France.
Always a favorite of mine, Jean Foillard’s signature Morgon Côte du Py Cru Beaujolais is a deeply purple/garnet hued beauty with satiny pure Gamay goodness on the medium bodied palate, showing off a violets bouquet, ripe berries and a spicy/savory whole cluster crunch. Reminding me a bit of 2009, but with a little more finesse and inner brightness, this 2020 is as good as it gets and is drinking fabulously well, with a classic Foillard profile of flavors. As always, this wine, comes from vines that range from 10 to 90 years old and set on the granite based soils with schist and veins of manganese this gorgeous Côte du Py shows black raspberry, sweet plum, black currant and strawberry, along with an array of subtle spice, dried herbs, and mineral notes. As it opens in the glass, you are seduced by exotic and heavenly florals, crushed peonies, as well as with hints of anise, walnut, a light and raw earthy element. The acidity is non aggressive, but life giving here, giving lift to the concentrated fruit density, and the textural pleasure of the semi-carbonic whole cluster fermentation adds sex appeal. This year’s version, from organic grapes with ultra low SO2 employed, as per normal, is serious stuff, and while ripe at 14% natural alcohol, the balance is impeccable, making for an exceptional wine to enjoy over the decade to come, though no patience is required here. I highly recommend searching out all of the Foillard offerings, including this Côte du Py, along with the rare black label Fleurie, and Jean’s son Alex’s wines, under his own label, are thrilling too and are excellent values.
Jean Foillard, as mentioned here in prior reviews, was greatly inspired by natural wine guru Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who led the natural wine movement in the Beaujolais and redefined the wines of the region and who wanted to go back to pre-industrial style organic farming and not use chemical additives in the cellar. Jean and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton joined in on this movement, this became the Gang of Four, a nickname coined by the famed importer Kermit Lynch, who brought these masterpieces of Gamay to America, along with Dutraive and others brought critical acclaim to this region that had been badly maligned for generations. Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, with stellar vineyard holdings mainly in the revered Côte du Py, as Kermit Lynch notes, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of the Morgon cru. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity on these wines. Jean Foillard, who hand crafts his wines using native yeasts and using traditional 100% whole cluster with a long gentle maceration that usually lasts just over 3 weeks and raises his wines in older barrels, always well seasoned and sourced from top estates in Burgundy, including the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. This elevage of the Côte du Py in the used French barriques is between 6 to 9 months, depending on the vintage and always to preserve energy, transparency and purity. If you can find this 2020, buy it, but I hear the 2022s are pretty much on the same level and I look forward to getting some myself.
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive