Jean Foillard Fleurie, 2023

Wild Strawberry, Floral, Silky

Beaujolais / Red / Gamay / Biodynamic

The vineyards are farmed organically and the fruit is picked by hand. Grapes are usually vinified whole-cluster (no destemming) and placed for a cold carbonic / semi-carbonic maceration before fermentation finishes on the skins with indigenous yeasts; macerations commonly run for several weeks. Foillard works with minimal to no sulphur during vinification (often only a very small dose — if any — at bottling), and the wines are typically matured in neutral oak (foudres / old barrels) and stainless or concrete for several months. Bottling is generally without fining or filtration. The result is a floral, red-fruit driven Fleurie with fine tannins, fresh acidity and an elegant, silky texture. 

Notes on the producer

Jean Foillard runs the family domaine and is one of Beaujolais’s most influential, low-intervention vignerons. In charge since the early 1980s, Foillard developed his now-famous “méthode ancienne”: organic tending of old Gamay vines, whole-cluster (carbonic/semi-carbonic) vinifications of several weeks, élevage in neutral foudres and barrels, and minimal additions (little or no sulfur; no fining or filtration). His Fleurie parcels — many on the cru’s pink-granite soils and some south-facing sites such as the “Champagne” lieu-dit — produce wines of bright red berry fruit, floral perfume and mineral lift. Foillard’s wines are adored for their clarity of fruit, purity and the balance between energy and texture; they remain sought after and relatively scarce on the market.