Browse Tag

morgon

The rock

[label]Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – This is the “S” (sulfured) cuvee. The aromas say Morgon, but there’s such an ethereality to this wine. It’s not muted, and while it could be accused of being “light,” that doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter either. Both fruit and texture float like dust, the wine’s character is delivered in feathery layers of the finest tissue, and I think it would be possible to drink this in one long, enticing gulp without realizing one had done so. A great Lapierre Morgon? No, not in the sense one usually hears that phrase. It’s too different. But it has its own charms. (2/10)

Lapierre 2002 Morgon (Beaujolais) – VV 02, for those tracking lot numbers. Surprisingly immature. Berries are still tart and primary, soil notes are still broad-shouldered, and there’s a fair bit of tannin (for gamay), with no apparent fraying of the weave between fruit and structure, and none of the mature elements I seek in this wine. Leave it alone, I guess. (2/10)

Harry

[label]Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – Light, with the texture of flake-depth foil, as if the fruit has been pressed and stretched into the most delicate leaves of nearly-transparent fruit. The wine is, in the context of its ancestors, so light that it’s not easy to discern its Morgon-ness (though the quality of the fruit is darker than most other Beaujolais of similar weight, and there’s the faintest iron-like soil component that meets one’s expectations). Drinking this wine is a little like holding one’s breath, knowing that the slightest sound will disturb something that’s important to hear. (8/09)

Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – More soil and (absent the heat) dusted peppercorn than has been typical for this wine, the result of a slight diminishment of the delicate. I don’t mean to suggest an absence of fruit, but a very slight change in the balance is all that’s necessary for this wine to shift position. (8/09)

In a cup

Foillard 2001 Morgon Côte du Py (Beaujolais) – A little delicate and even quiet at first, showing a lot of dust and a fading black raspberry palate. A day of minor exposure to air, at room temp, clarifies and amplifies the wine. The dust is still there, but now it’s texture, and the fruit – nicely expanded, though this is still medium-bodied at best – fills the mouth like a thick haze of mature fruit and foggy, sodden earth. There’s a heart of mystery within, as well, that doesn’t want to be quantified. Lovely. (7/09)

Curses, Foillard again!

Foillard 2006 Morgon Côte du Py (Beaujolais) – Vastly lighter than some vintages, and almost breathtakingly beautiful as a result. Literally so: I’m completely enraptured by the ethereal blend of spice, soil, berry, and soul in this wine. Texturally sensuous but far from slutty. I don’t just want to drink this, I want to bathe in it. (7/09)

3.14y

Foillard 2000 Morgon Côte du Py (Beaujolais) – Mildly corked, grossly bretty, and otherwise not good. (5/09)

Foillard 2001 Morgon Côte du Py (Beaujolais) – Very bretty. Straddles the dueling worlds of Burgundy (a deep, moody complexity of berries and black trumpet mushrooms) and the Rhône (funky, sun-baked undergrowth). But I’d like it a lot more were there less stink. (5/09)

Charmes bracelet

[jean-marc]JM Burgaud 2006 Morgon Les Charmes (Beaujolais) – Except for the higher-toned, red-hued acidity that floats from the glass, this is as much a pinot as any Morgon I’ve tasted from this house. Structured, earthy, and yet quite restrained, it doesn’t hold back so much as reach a lower peak volume than it has in the past, with the dark fruit only in the beginning stages of forming into muscularity. This will be a shorter-term Morgon from this house, though it should still age for a few years. (7/08)

Charmes life

[label]J-M Burgaud 2006 Morgon Les Charmes (Beaujolais) – Light to the point of insignificance at first sip – a shocking thing for a Morgon – this gains weight, flexibility, and complexity with food. Dark berry vines writhe and heavily-salted minerality abounds. There’s very little point in opening this wine until it knits, and it should improve for a half-decade with little effort, but it’s wan right now. (6/08)

Why does it hurt?

Desvignes 2005 Morgon Côte du Py (Beaujolais) – Difficult nose. Very intense on the palate, with hard structure and venison scented with mint, rosemary, and thyme. Thudding. Not at all for drinking now, except perhaps in one’s home dungeon. Later? Yes, definitely, but much later. (1/08)

Morgon Fairchild

JM Burgaud 2006 Morgon Les Charmes (Beaujolais) – While it would be hard to mistake this for “serious” gamay, this isn’t the first Morgon that’s put me in mind of syrah; there’s a structured smokiness to it, perhaps a little strappy leather to the aroma, that makes me think of syrah with the volume turned way down. It’s very nicely balanced, though lacking the fierce intensity of the 2005…which, depending on one’s point of view, may be a blessing. That is to say, it’s a “lesser” wine than the previous vintage, and that lessening has both good and less good facets. Certainly, it remains ageable, but appealing (with full-flavored food) right now. (12/07)