2023 Daniel Bouland - Morgon Bellevue Cailloux (750ml)
The 2023 Morgon Bellevue shows a little reduction on the nose but is armed with brisk and breezy blackberry and raspberry fruit that give way to hints of cassis. The palate is medium-bodied and sorbet-fresh, with saturated tannins and a touch of orange...
2020 Domaine Brana Tannat Irouleguy Ohitza
The Irouleguy Rouge “Ohitza” cuvée is typically made from 50% Tannat and 50% Cabernet Franc. The parcels are from sandstone soils at mid-elevation. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel with a maceration of around seventeen days. The wine is aged 70% in barrels of 3/4/5 years and 30% in cement tanks. Every three months the wine is racked and assembled and then redivided among the barrels and tanks. After a year, a final assemblage is made which then continues to mature in barrel and tank until bottling in June, eighteen months after harvest. Ohitza is the basque word for tradition.
2016 Domaine de Chevillard Vin de Savoie St. Jean de la Porte Mondeuse(750ml)
2020 Domaine des Tourelles Cinsault Vieilles Vignes Bekaa Valley (750ml)
2023 Domaine du Cros - Fer Servadou Marcillac Lo Sang del Pais (750ml)
“Lo Sang del Pais” translates as “the blood of the countryside” and one can easily feel the life-force of this wine. The grape bunches are hand harvested and after being de-stemmed they are fed into fermentation tanks using gravity flow. The “cuvaison” lasts 21 days with the juice being pumped over the cap during the first 6 days. The wine is aged for 6 months in large oak and chestnut barrels which range in age up to 200 years old. The wine has a bright violet color and aromas of wild red fruit and pepper which follow through on the palate with freshness and vibrancy.
100% Mansois (Fer Servadou)
2023 Domaine Jean Foillard - Morgon Cote du Py (750ml)
The 2023 Morgon Côte du Py comes from several parcels of granite and schistous soils with many centurion vines. This has a wonderful, very complex bouquet with exquisite delineation: crushed stone lters through dark berry fruit alongside hints of ash a...
2023 Domaine Jean Foillard - Morgon Corcelette (750ml)
The 2023 Morgon Cuvée Corcelette comes from well-drained granite soils and is aged for nine months in used barrel. It has a perfumed bouquet of incense that blossoms with aeration, as touches of brown spice infuse the red fruit. The palate is medium-bo...
2023 Domaine Jean Foillard - Beaujolais Villages (750ml)
Every so often, I take a sip of a “humble” regional wine that makes me question everything. With a glass of this in hand, I think to myself, who cares about grand cru Burgundy? Or, why would I ever drink anything else? Or, surely this is the bottle I’d choose to fill my cooler with if I were stranded on a desert island.
When I’m able to think rationally again, of course I’d pounce on a bottle of Taupenot-Merme’s grand cru Corton Rognet or the Perret family’s majestic Condrieu I write about in this month’s newsletter. And variety is everything, so I wouldn’t fill my island cooler with just Jean Foillard’s Beaujolais-Villages. But this kind of red makes you suspend reason for a moment and devote yourself to it, at least while the wine’s still in your glass.
After all, Beaujolais-Villages has no business being this good, but Jean Foillard is an extraordinary vigneron. A decade or so ago, Jean made Beaujolais Nouveau that he would expedite to us each November to meet the deadline of the worldwide Nouveau celebration. That Nouveau was outstanding and he didn’t need to change anything, but he had an epiphany that only the most ambitious sort of grower has: the grapes he was using were of high enough quality to make a cuvée with more depth and complexity, so he proposed taking his time to produce a Beaujolais-Villages instead of a hurried Nouveau.
Blending grapes from high-elevation, granite-heavy terroirs barely outside the region’s crus, and with a patient élevage that’s very close to that of his world-class Morgons, this wine is silky and seductive, with notes of rose petals, red fruit, pomegranate, and stones. With just the right amount of tannin and acidity, and lots of class, it is perfect for all occasions.
—Tom Wolf (Kermit Lynch)
2025 Domaine Manoir du Carra - Beaujolais Nouveau (750ml)
Average age of the vines: 30 years old (between 20 and 60 years old). Skin contact maceration: between 2 and 5 days depending on the parcels.
Beaujolais-Nouveau has been very popular with almost every Thanksgiving dish - from turkey to ham, green beans to mashed potatoes, and gravy to cranberry sauce.
The Beaujolais Villages Nouveau is deeper red, with flavors reminiscent of strawberries and roses, plus a mineral component. Fragrant and medium bodied; refreshing with a tart finish. Beaujolais Villages Nouveau is meant to be consumed young, within 5-7 months.
Beaujolais Nouveau originated about a century ago as a 'vin de l'année' - a cheap and cheerful drink produced by locals to celebrate the end of the harvest season. The Beaujolais AOC was established in 1937, and after WWII, the wine was sold outside of the area. By the 1970's, Beaujolais Nouveau day was a national event.
he region of Beaujolais is 34 miles long from north to south, and 7 to 9 miles wide. There are nearly 4,000 grape growers who make their living in this picturesque region just north of France's third largest city, Lyon.
The Gamay grapes that go into Beaujolais Nouveau are handpicked, as are all the grapes in the Beaujolais. Beaujolais & Champagne are the only vineyards where hand harvesting is mandatory. Gamay (Gamay noir Jus Blanc) is the only grape permitted for Beaujolais.
Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be made from grapes grown in the 10 crus (great growths) of Beaujolais; only from grapes coming from the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages. Approximately 1/3 of the entire crop of the Beaujolais region is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau.
Nouveau is made with carbonic maceration, or whole-berry fermentation. This technique preserves the fresh, fruity quality of the grapes without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins.
-Importer notes (Kysela)