I’m a bit confused, not sure if anyone can help; a friend gave me a bottle of 2018 Thevenet Morgon - I thought they were all Vielles Vignes and there was just the one cuvée with the classic label, but this appears to be something different with a different label, no VV, and “Jean-Paul et Charly Thevenet” rather than just JP. Looks like this below.
Is this a négoce thing with Jean-Paul and his son? A younger-vine bottling? Something else entirely?
Incidentally, it’s very pleasant, with nice refreshing tart fruits and good acidity - not particularly ripe or concentrated, with a bit of stemmy-like herbalness to give it a bit of complexity.
Yes indeed! A little more digging, and apparently it is a cuvée called “Tradition” even though it’s not labelled such on the bottle and seems to be a younger-vines version.
Still, utterly delicious and impossible to put down.
Over 3 nights the SO and I quite enjoyed the 2018 Domaine Romy ‘Vielles Vignes’ Les Pieres Dorees [Beaujolais]. It’s a big estate (74 acres) in the southern part, not entitled to cru status, and made biodynamiquely in a popular style. I picked up banana notes on the nose, so perhaps there is a custom yeast here. Light bodied, 13% abv, with a purplish hue. The family apparently has been in the wine trade for 10 generations, just astonishing. This bottling is all stainless tank raised, resting on its lees for 9mos, and partially destemmed. Sure its not Foillard’s village bojo…but I really liked this and its available in some of the Northeast and California. I’d totally buy this again. A- for my tastes, really tasty in this style.
Just had the '18 Thevenet Morgon VV last night and it was pretty rocking. Not going to argue with the fact that everyone has their own threshold for ripeness and alcohol on these wines, and certainly it doesn’t have the same level of acidity as cooler vintages, but it definitely has loads of Gamay character/typicity, and good transparency (no more “extracted” or “dense”) than other years, just a bit less of that sour tartness that we all crave…In any event, if it were available I’d buy more for near-term drinking, despite the fact that it’s not one of my favorite vintages of the wine.
For kitchen glugging or porch quaffing, I don’t need all that tartness personally. Maybe if it’s a light lunch or something like omelettes, where Bojo is alongside, I can go for a zippier expression.
Tried the '18 Domaine Piron Morgon Grands Cras on Wednesday and it has a richness and suppleness that makes it eminently drinkable, with enough vibrancy to give it life and interest. I’d probably be happier with a little more ‘crunchiness’ and piquancy but will still happily guzzle more of these.
I have been holding off buying any '18 as I prefer the cooler vintages but based on the feedback, seems like I should pick up few and give it a try. Guess I have a little shopping to do this weekend. Luckily I have a wine store near me that carries quite a but of Beaujolais.
As a preprandial kitchen quaffer, we’ve been sipping a 2018 des Tours [Brouilly] over the last 3 days. I like it just as much as I liked the 15 des Tours VV but it’s a touch lighter, fresher. This is a big estate (70 hectares) that makes 20-25k cases a year and is well distributed as the owners are the same Parisian restaurateur family which owns the well reputed La Nerthe CNDP. So it ought to be pretty available. I find the nose is brambly, with a lingonberry palate. There’s a touch of zest here, as if orange peels were added, and a long 30 second finish. Maybe there’s a big difference between the regular bottling and the old vines one, but just looking at my notes, I don’t seem to detect it. Of course side by side would have been more helpful. This is big NON AFWE cru bojo raised on poor acidic soils… although the back label states ‘red Burgundy wine’ and hardly mentions their AOC, sadly given that wine has been made here since 1331 AD. I’d slot this into the A- zone in my ledger; I’ve been having great luck with young bojo the last few months.
Maybe it should depress me, but this is the kind of wine that I suppose in 20 years people will laugh about, and say “I remember glugging Brouilly’s when they were only $200/cs”. Enjoy while we can.
2018 Marcel Lapierre Morgon 'Cuvee Marcel Lapierre’
Attractive at first: attention grabbing large-scaled dark fruit with mercifully moderate alcohol (13.5% on the bottle) and a bit of velvety tannin; turns disturbingly soupy and cloying over time due to the lack of acidity; disappointing that this was this far out of balance; decent minus
Drinking this tonight. It is an impressive wine, especially for the price. Big, meaty, slight note of iron, and plenty of acidity. Drinking quite well tonight, but I am holding my other bottles. I’ll buy more given the opportunity.
I bought 3 bottles of the 2017 from a local wine shop without thinking much of it. By the time I tasted them and realized what a value it was that shop unfortunately closed. I see one shop in the US that sells it, but really wish I could find it locally (Southern CA). I agree this comes in at a fantastic value, and I enjoyed drinking this bottling more than some of the other Brouillys I’ve had that are a bit burlier in structure by comparison.
Tonight, I am drinking a 2018 Desvignes (Morgon) La Voûte Saint-Vincent. So good, but I feel like I am robbing the cradle. The wine is dense, flavorful, earthy and juicy. It is enjoyable in a hedonistic way due to its pure, relentless vibrancy. It would be perfect with a nice, medium-rare duck breast with a fat back (which I do not have on hand tonight).
I have to hide my remaining 2018 Desvignes, or else I will never know what they might become. It is hard to ignore them, considering how much pleasure they can deliver in their infancy.
Well, my question was related to the producer, since I wasn’t familiar with the cuvée. Googling the name, I suppose the producer in question is Louis Claude?
(And not, for example Didier Desvignes, Fabien Desvignes or Jean Desvignes who at least work in Morgon - or Pasquier Desvignes that produces at least some Crus Beaujolaises)
Yes, Louis Claude. The upper-cuvees can be best of class, especially Impenitents, but I personally found the 2018 a bit too much. There is a thread on this wine, I know William Kelley raves about it.
