Beaujolais
Julie Balagny - New
Fleurie 
BackgroundJulie Balagny is an up and coming star of the Beaujolais who's first vintage was in 2009. She farms just under 4 hectares in a lieu-dit call 'En Remont' which is south facing and high up in the climat of Haut de Poncié; it's soils are packed full of rocks, namely quartz, manganese and flint and it is truly a geologically fascinating site.
She rents an old farmhouse just around the corner from the vines so that she can be near and I get the feeling she is there pretty much all the time with her trusty dog keeping watch. She already seems deeply rooted to the place and it's terroir and it is very exciting that it should now have such a insightful and thoughtful custodian, not to mention winemaker!
It is a nice but very rare combination to have one plot of vines tended by just one winemaker (a Monopole) and Balagny has already identified four different areas within her Monopole that she knows produce different expressions. At some point in time she may choose to bottle them all separately - these wines will always be very rare and hard to find!
In summary, Balagny's wines are just great and more than that they are exciting. Her exacting methods, meticulous cellar, curiosity, perceptiveness and attention to detail are the hallmarks of all great winemakers and she is well on the way to forging an incredible reputation.
WineBalagny is close to Fleurie's super-cult winemaker, Yvon Metras, who first told her that the vineyards in En Remont were available to be rented.
Metras provides his insight in the cellar, and again in terms of vinification (duration of maceration, fermentation temperatures, etc.) with the result that Balagny's and Metras' methods are very similar. Their wines are not the same though; I actually think hers may be better!
Domaine Jean Foillard
Morgon
BackgroundThankfully Jean Foillard doesn’t live in Burgundy. I say that because if he transported his vineyard holdings, metier and extraordinary talent to the Côte de Nuits then there is no chance that you would be reading about him in these pages. His wine would be as exclusive and expensive as Armand Rousseau or perhaps Georges Roumier. It is only because Beaujolais has been much maligned by the ‘nouveau’ phenomenon, poor quality marketing and oceans of basic quality wines that the regions superstars remain undiscovered. Jean Foillard is one of the great winemakers in France and, in his hands, wine is no ordinary thing.
Jean and his wife Agnès live just outside the small village of Ville-Morgon in a large, old white farmhouse that they have renovated beautifully. Jean started making wine in 1982; first at the family domaine then after a few years he branched out on his own and started to rent and buy his own holdings (including a large, perfect parcel on the Côte du Py: the most celebrated climat in all Beaujolais) Today his holdings are 11 hectares, including a parcel recently inherited from Agnes’ parents in the lieu-dit Courcellette. It’s granitic soils are a little different to the iron rich, schist of the Côte du Py and the cuvée is bottled separately.
Jean Foillard is a fervent supporter, like Marcel Lapierre, of the natural wine growing and making methods of the legendary Jules Chauvet. This includes keeping whole clusters of grapes in vats for 2 to 3 weeks at a low temperature before fermentation, using only natural yeast, no pumping, no fining and no filtration. Furthermore he ages his wine in barrels brought from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.. the results are sublime. He is a cult wine hero amongst the very many young, free-spirited vignerons in France who are now looking back to nature to make fine wine.
WineMorgon from Foillard shows wonderfully fresh, pure aromas of cherries and blackberries combined with a haunting, otherworldly complexity that is distinctly Foillard. The word diaphanous is perfect to describe the aromas of his wines; you can almost smell through them. In the mouth, again there’s a wonderful transparency. Crunchy, fresh fruit is complemented by a satiny, silky structure and some delicate spice. Elegant, soft, smooth and pure, in many ways these wines have more in common sensually with Chambolle-Musigny than regular, “run of the mill” Beaujolais. A must try wine for wine lovers who have not yet discovered this treasure of ‘true’ Beaujolais.
Domaine Chignard
Fleurie
Michel Chignard's 8 hectares of vines are situated right at the top of the hill bordering Moulin-Vent, on pure granitic soil in the heart of the Fleurie appellation. The "Moriers" lieu-dit contains the oldest vines, some of which are over 60-years-old and all of which are free-standing in traditional gobelet style. Vinification is divided between stainless steel, cement and large wooden tanks, all using the classic whole bunch method for gentle extraction of fruit. The subtly differing cuvees are then blended early in the spring and allowed to harmonise over three to four months. This is a tiny estate, the entire operation takes place beneath their household - on my last visit I counted just three small tanks and a row of 6 old barrels !
Chignard's Fleuries are unusually concentrated, intensely aromatic and have a depth of fruit and structure seldom found in wines form this village no doubt due to the close proximity to Moulin-Vent.
The fifth generation Michel Chignard was among the first producers (in the eighties) in this area to, through his meticulous work, put the Beaujolais region back on the map of fine wine drinkers. It's important to realise that you don't just need to have the right terroir (granitic and schistose soils well exposed on the hillsides) to produce good wine; it is also crucial to respect basic quality steps: hand cultivation of vines, respect for soils, control of yields, manual grape harvesting, sorting of grapes and traditional vinification. It may sound simple but so few do it.
Michel's son Cedric Chignard has been involved in the vinification process for the last few vintages, under the watchful eye of his father and is in the process of fully taking over the reins. This is one of the great sources of fine quality, family made Beaujolais and the Chignard's create wines with dimension and subtle inflections that are enchanting, in fact they get under your skin
Like Gonon, Bellivière and Meyer-Fonné these are reference point wines that grace the tables of many Michelin starred restaurants in France.
Ardèche