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Jean Foillard + Christophe et Fils + Maison Verget/Chateau des Tourettes + ANZAC Day Weekend Trading Hours

by Annandale Cellars

Jean Foillard

Jean Foillard is one of Beaujolais' biggest legends, having learnt from Jules Chauvet as one of the original 'Gang of Four' alongside Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton. Jean and Agnès Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980 in Morgon and was quick to revamp the image of Beaujolais which was ridden with high-volume, mechanised commercial winemaking at the time which was quickly picked up by Kermit Lynch who then gave him the recognition he deserved.

The approach to making wine that Chauvet imparted on Foillard includes 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. He also keeps whole clusters of grapes in vats for 2 - 3 weeks at a low temperature before fermentation, using only natural yeast, no pumping, no fining and ages the wines in barrels bought from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The result are true Morgon wines with structure, spice and minerality as opposed to the banana and bubblegum monstrosities that too often come out of the region.

Jean Foillard owns some of the best land in all of Beaujolais. The Côte du Py is considered by many to be the best site in Beaujolais with its soils of iron-rich schist on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town. He also owns a parcel on the granitic soils of the lieu-dit Corcelette as well as in Fleurie. These top sites with winemaking faithful to the terroir makes wines of deep structure, lushness and complexity.

We've just received Jean's wines from the excellent 2023 vintage to share with you. We have the '23 'Morgon Corcelette' as well as the '23 'Morgon Cote du Puy' - same village from 2 different exceptional sites. These would be great to pick up and drink side by side. We also have the '23 'Fleurie' which represents his efforts outside of his homeground in Morgon - also an excellent and thoughtful wine. Jean Foillard is without a doubt one the best winemakers, not just in Beaujolais, but in all of France. Pick up these wines and you'll see for yourself!

 

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Christophe et Fils

Sebastien Christophe crafts pristine Chablis from great sites at an affordable price in a region whose prices have been steadily rising for a while. The domaine and its vineyards are in the commune of Fyé, across the river from the town of Chablis where the hills are steepand overlook Les Clos, Blanchots and Montee de Tonnerre.

Sebastien is a restless winemaker with every component of the winemaking process - from viticulture to vinification has been meticulously thought out and planned to craft Chablis of detail and nuance. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation is conducted in steel, as well as he aging (with a mix of older barrels for the 1er Crus and Grand Crus). He looks for elegance, length, purity and minerality in his wines and holds himself to very high standards. These wines display the classic Chablis notes of oyster shell, green apple, white flower and lemon. It's refreshing to see wines made in the classic style of Chablis at a great price seeing as more and more producers these days are trying to make wines in the style of the Cote de Beaune at twice the price to these.

We've just picked up some of these wines that we always try to keep in rotation in our fridges. The '23 'Petit Chablis' comes from a few parcels near his winery located on the plateau that sits just above the Grand Cru slope and the great vineyard, Montée de Tonnerre. Easily one of the best value Petit Chablis out there! The '23 'Chablis' is sourced predominantly from vineyards hat face the Grand Cru Blanchots and sit just west on the hill home to the great 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre whose soils is almost entirely decomposed fossilised oyster shells. There are a few other sites of varying aspects that all bring something to this wine, creating a classic Chablis of acid tension and minerality. Finally, we have a single bottle of the '22 'Les Preuses Grand Cru' which produces the most mineral wines of all the Chablis Grand Crus. It's not every day that you find good Chablis at these prices - stock up before they get snatched up!

 

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Maison Verget

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Chateau des Tourettes

Jean-Marie Guffens is a figure that won't need much of an introduction to many of - he is best know as the founder and winemaker of the incredible Guffens-Heynen wines in Macon. Jean-Marie; however, has efforts outside this estate as well, representing amazing value in the context of French Chardonnay. Maison Verget is his micro-negoce label in which he sources fruit predominantly from Mâcon, with supplementary sources from serious, like-minded growers in Chablis and southern France. Chateau des Tourettes is his southernmost venture, sourcing fruit from the underrated terroirs of southern France around Provence!

The primary difference between the wines under the Verget label compared to those of the Guffens mainline, is that these showcase a much purer fruit profile, uncorrupted with techniques such as lees-stirring or reduction. Guffens believe these techniques cannot often shroud the expression of the terroir and are used to cover deficiencies and feign complexity. These wines are much more taut with a concentrated citrus/stone fruit profile and minerality. These Verget wines have gotten even better in recent times since the appointment of Julian Desplans as the head winemaker, whose resume includes work at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The Guffens team sort grapes in the vineyard and only work with low-yielding growers and work almost exclusively with free-run juices with natural ferments that occur in Verget’s large horizontal stainless-steel tanks that offer the same lees to wine ratio as oak barrels.

On the other hand, the Chateau des Tourettes wines show some more stuffing and power, coming from the sun-blessed hills of Provence. Guffens had always thought that the vignerons here had undersold the potential of their terroir and aims to produce wines that can reveal the potential of the area. They found a site at the foothill of the Luberon mountain range at 420m above sea level, rich in limestone helping to create wines that are fresher and more complex than most in the region. The cellar has been fitted out with his modified vertical press, concrete tanks and barrels from Verget, creating a boutique Burgundian-style cellar in Provence.

We've usually only flirted with these wines in the past but we've bought in some new stock from these exciting ventures. Of the Verget wines, we have the '24 'Macon-Pierreclos' is a site made famous by the Guffens mainline, here being sourced from 50 year old vines on rich limestone soils and aged for 8 months in fourdre to create a ridiculously fresh Chardonnay with concentrated citrus, a touch of stone fruit and some spice. The '24 'Pouilly-Fuisse Le Haut de la Roche' is considered an honorary Premier Cru; only not being labelled as such due to its altitude that sees 25% new oak creating a wine of incredible tension, focus and concentration. From Chateau des Tourettes, we have the '24 'Tinus Grand Blanc Plateau de L'Aigle' comes from a limestone-rich single vineyard made from the best free-run juice, creating a naturally more robust and powerful wine that can easily handle 25% new French oak for 8 months before subsequent aging in concrete vats on fine lees for a further ten months. Meursault lovers should try this. Finally, we have the '24 'Tinus Rouge d'une Nuit' is a blend of Syrah and Cabernet left overnight on the dry pressing of old-vine Grenache to take on more colour, fruit and structure. It is then aged in concrete tank to preserve freshness. Named after its one-night stand with the Grenache skins, it’s a brightly fruited red, bursting with notes of peppery spice and red berries before a refreshing, poppy-seed finish. A lovely bistro-style red. These are exciting wines from 2 different estates run by one of the best winemakers in France that sell for a fraction of his mainline wines. Don't sleep on these!

 

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ANZAC Day Weekend

Trading Hours

We will be trading close to normal this ANZAC day weekend. We will be open every day, just closing slightly earlier on the Saturday and Monday. There will be no tasting this week so stay tuned for next week!

Friday 24th: 10am - 9pm

Saturday 25th (ANZAC Day): 10am - 8pm

Sunday 26th: 10am - 8pm

Monday 27th: 10am - 8pm

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