Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvee Corcelette 2007

Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvee Corcelette 2007 (Beaujolais, France)
$55, Cork, 13.0%

Ahh, lovely. Natural wine done good. This is the companion to the Cote du Py tasted earlier this year, this wine coming off a single vineyard on more granitic soils than the Cote du Py. The average vine age is 70 yrs+ and this is made with minimal manual handling, no additions of any kind (bar a tiny drop of SO2) and no fining or filtration.

In the glass it is a cloudy, muddy strawberry juice colour (not helped by the flecks of stupid wax from the seal), with a ruby brightness to it that accurately reflects this wines bright, ‘come hither’ personality. On the nose, this has lovely sweet & pure raspberry fruit, a hint of menthol and then more fruit. Its red grape juice, unadorned by winemaking edifice, just reflecting nice ripe grapes, with a little bit of rustic funk, almost like we need reminding that its ‘natural wine’.

No surprises then that the palate just backs up the nose, the absolute juiciness driving the textural fun – It’s the sort of light and mouthfilling fruit generosity that makes Rose so quaffable, yet there is no trace of residual sweetness here. Rather, the back palate finishes with some sticky, sour acidity, real strawberry and non existent tannins, the final back palate rubberiness giving away its Gamay heart.

It’s hard not to like wines like this – exuberant, ‘fruity’ and structurally quite simple, winning over people with just purity of expression and sheer beauty. Of the price, I’m sure that in its homeland this sells for half this amount, but on the other side of the world, it does seem a little steep. If we compare this wines quality vs price however with its neighbours from Burgundy, then this seems like an absolute bargain. 18