{"product_id":"jean-foillard-morgon-cote-du-py-2024","title":"Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeaujolais is granite country, and Côte du Py is the exception that made Morgon famous. The hill rises directly above Villié-Morgon, part of the cru's south-facing band, and its soil is crumbly, weathered schist laced with granite, iron oxide, and manganese. Locals call it roche pourrie, rotten rock, and the verb morgonner grew out of what wines from this ground do with age: shed their youthful fruit and take on an earthy depth closer to Pinot Noir than to the Gamay most people know. The broken schist drains fast, so the vines work for ripeness, and the iron and manganese show up in the glass as a dark, ferrous grip. This is the most celebrated hillside in Beaujolais.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py 2024 is 100% Gamay, hand-picked and chilled before going into vat as whole clusters. Foillard runs a long, cool carbonic maceration of up to 30 days, then presses into concrete tanks to finish fermentation before the wine moves to foudres and older barrels. 2024 was a hard year in Beaujolais: by the June solstice the region had seen roughly three times its normal rainfall, mildew and black rot pressed hard, hail struck in late June, and a cool, damp September slowed ripening. Growers who waited for ripeness did best, and the well-drained hillside crus fared better. The wine sits at 13 percent alcohol. In past vintages Côte du Py has shown plum, dark cherry, and kirsch over earthy stone, with dusty, firm tannin. Expect 2024 to lean fresher and more lifted than the warm years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean Foillard did not start out as a natural winemaker. When he and his wife, Agnès, took over his father's domaine in Villié-Morgon in 1980, the work was conventional. Inspired by Jules Chauvet, the chemist and négociant often called the father of natural wine, Foillard went back to basics: organic farming from the 1980s onward, ripe and healthy fruit, and a cellar stripped of shortcuts. Along with Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton, he became one of the four Morgon growers that Kermit Lynch, their US importer, named the Gang of Four. Today Foillard is widely credited with changing how the world sees Beaujolais, and Côte du Py remains his signature, the wine that put cru Gamay on the same lists as red Burgundy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMake coq au vin with a splash of Morgon in the braise and serve it over buttered egg noodles; the wine's acidity lifts the rich sauce and its earthy side meets the mushrooms and bacon. Grilled hanger steak with shallot butter and frites works because the iron-edged fruit matches the beef while the fine tannin handles the fat. Pork shoulder braised with prunes and juniper plays the dark fruit against the sweet-sour sauce. Close with a wedge of Saint-Nectaire or young Comté, whose nutty fat softens the wine's grip. This is the bottle to open for the friend who still thinks Beaujolais is a holiday novelty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"empire","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68390578913503,"sku":null,"price":64.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PB060650.jpg?v=1794011262","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/jean-foillard-morgon-cote-du-py-2024","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}