Jean Foillard Beaujolais
"Silky, refined...Extremely drinkable" 2020s
Plus a 2018 Morgon from 100-year-old vines!
Up to 95 Points - All Wines In Stock
"Let's cut straight to deliciousness" - Kermit Lynch
A revolutionary for helping turn the tide away from overly commercial, modernized methods, Foillard is an icon of traditional and low-intervention Beaujolais winemaking. The 14 hectares of very old vines are farmed organically, and highly-selective hand harvesting is employed. Barrels are minimum 2 years old and wines are bottled unfiltered and with no added SO2 during vinification. The entry-level Villages is an excellent value, while the higher end, very old-vine cuvees offer wonderful drinkability coupled with a capacity to age.
"There is something no-nonsense and straightforward about Foillard’s wine. It seems to say, let’s cut straight to deliciousness. Deliciousness with class. It has a wonderful texture going down. The finesse from start to finish seems almost offhanded.
Jean and Agnès Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, and soon thereafter began to make Kermit Lynch customers very happy. Most of their vineyards are planted on the Côte du Py, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of Morgon. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity. However, great real estate is not the only key to Foillard’s success. Early on, Jean began to follow the teachings of Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who defied everything that the more commercial brands were touting in the region. Jean and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton, soon joined in on the movement. This Gang of Four, as Kermit christened them, called for a return to the old practices of viticulture and vinification: starting with old vines, never using synthetic herbicides or pesticides, harvesting late, rigorously sorting to remove all but the healthiest grapes, adding minimal doses of sulfur dioxide or none at all, and refusing both chaptalization and filtration. The end result allows Morgon to express itself naturally, as it should be without the bubblegum and banana aromas of so many other Beaujolais available today. Its rustic structure, spicy notes, and mineral-laden backbone are what real Morgon is all about." - Kermit Lynch
"Of all the disciples of Jules Chauvet, Jean Foillard is the most likely to succeed in the practice of using very little SO2, without having his wines act capriciously at the slightest change in atmospheric pressure. His wines possess magnificent body and give aromas of a unique purity and grace." - La Revue de France
Jean Foillard Beaujolais-Villages (750ml) $24.89 Buy Now
Vine age 20-55 years. Aged 7 months in concrete tank. Traditional, whole cluster fermentation lasts from 15 days in concrete tank. Parcels located in Villié-Morgon, Lancié, Saint-Amour, and St-Etienne-La-Varenne.
Jean Foillard Morgon Les Charmes Eponym (750ml) $46.89 Buy Now
Vine age 45-50 years. Aged for 6-9 months in used oak barrels. Traditional, whole cluster fermentation lasts from 3-4 weeks. Sourced exclusively from the Les Charmes vineyard, the highest altitude lieu-dit in the appellation.
Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvee Corcelette 2020 (750ML) $45.89 Buy Now
Vine age 80 years. Traditional, whole cluster fermentation lasts from 3-4 weeks. Aged for 6-9 months in used oak barrels and one 30-hectoliter foudre
Jean Foillard Morgon Cote du Py (750ml) $47.89 Buy Now
95 JS / 95 WA
Foillard's 2020 Morgon Côte du Py bursts with aromas of peonies, orange rind, exotic spices and dark berries. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it's deep and concentrated, with a rich core of fruit, tangy acids, powdery tannins and a long, sapid finish. Intensely flavored and incisive, at this early stage the 2020 looks to be one of the finest vintages of this cuvée in recent years. - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
Jean Foillard Fleurie (750ml) $54.89 Buy Now
93 JS
A good, punchy nose with crushed mulberries, white pepper, wild herbs, boysenberries and a fine twist of sauerkraut, extending to a linear, medium-bodied palate with silky tannins. Flavorful, ripe and long, but still refined. Drink now. - James Suckling
2018 Jean Foillard Morgon 3.14 (750ml) $98.89 Buy Now
Grapes from one hundred-year-old vines are used to make this fine, no nonsense, silky, deep, and authentic Morgon. Jean Foillard didn’t become a legend without earning his stripes
Shop all Beaujolais >
