2023 Domaine Jean Foillard - Morgon Corcelette (750ml)

Jean Foillard took over his father's family domaine in 1980 alongside his wife, Agnès, inheriting vineyards centered on the Côte du Py, the celebrated granite and schist slope outside Villié-Morgon considered the pride of the Morgon appellation. Early in his career Foillard fell in with the teachings of Jules Chauvet, the Beaujolais traditionalist and godfather of the natural wine movement, joining three fellow vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton, a group Kermit Lynch famously dubbed the Gang of Four. Together they championed organic farming, late harvests, and winemaking free of chaptalization or heavy sulfur, a philosophy Foillard still applies across his roughly fourteen organically farmed hectares today.

Corcelette comes from a single lieu-dit within Morgon, planted with Gamay vines between sixty and eighty years old on sandy, decomposed granite soils. The grapes undergo whole-cluster fermentation with native yeasts, then age in neutral oak barrels for several months before bottling with minimal added sulfur, an approach that preserves the site's characteristic lift and clarity.

The 2023 shows lifted red fruit, blood orange zest, and delicate florals over a fine mineral tension, with a medium-bodied, silky palate and finely knit tannins. Pair it with roast duck, grilled trout, or a young Brie.