Jean Foillard, Cote du Py, 2023

Red cherry, Floral, Silky

Beaujolais / Red / Gamay / Organic

The vineyards are worked with organic (and biodynamic-influenced) methods and the fruit is picked by hand. Grapes from old vines on the schist- and granite-rich slopes of the Côte du Py are vinified with a high proportion of whole-cluster (whole-bunch) fermentation using native yeasts and minimal cellar intervention. The wine sees élevage in used / neutral oak (around nine months is typical), is usually bottled unfined and unfiltered and with very low added sulphur at bottling. The result is a perfumed, mineral-driven Gamay with bright red-fruit purity, fine tannic structure and a silky texture. 

Notes on the producer

Jean (and Agnès) Foillard are one of Beaujolais’s benchmark families — custodians of parcels on the famed Côte du Py since taking over the domaine in 1980. A disciple of Jules Chauvet and commonly mentioned as part of Beaujolais’s “Gang of Four” who helped revive low-intervention viticulture and natural-wine practices, Foillard works old vines, living soils and traditional techniques to produce wines of energy, clarity and ageing potential. Their Côte du Py is the estate’s flagship: focused, terroir-driven Morgon from centenarian vines, made with whole-cluster fermentations, careful élevage in neutral oak and minimal sulphur.