Jean Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, with most of the vineyards planted on the Côte du Py, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of Morgon. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity. 

In his early wine career, Jean began to follow the teachings of Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who defied everything that the more commercial brands were pushing in the region at the time.

Jean, along with three other notable local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton, soon teamed up following a ‘new’ (old) way of Cru Beaujolais production, to return to the old practices of viticulture and vinification starting with old vines, never using herbicides or pesticides, harvesting late, adding minimal sulphur dioxide or none at all, and refusing chaptalization and filtration. 

The end result allows Morgon to express itself naturally. Today, the estate comprises nearly fourteen hectares producing deep, structured, and complex wines with great aging potential. 

Jean also uses older barrels sourced from top estates in Burgundy, crafting Gamay in a very Burgundian style.

The Morgon Cuvee 3.14 comes from a vineyard that is 100% Gamay from over 100 year old vines, grown on Schist and Granite soils, totalling 8.6 hectares.

Tasting Note: Jean Foillard Morgon 2013 Cuvee 3.14 – Dark, opaque, seductive plummy colour. The nose is perfumed, lifted and beautifully exotic with cherry blossoms, strawberry coulis, baked red apples, crushed gravel and mulberries. There is such attention to detail on the palate highlighting its pedigree and breeding, and of course the old vine fruit’s majestic grandeur. The display of full throttle concentration, succulent acids and liquid mineral tannins is so very impressive. This rarity from Jean Foillard really lives up to its 5 star reputation among Gamay lovers. (Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)