I’ve had a fair bit of cru Beaujolais. I enjoy it but have never found it to be profound or capital-G Great. However, I got very intrigued by Foillard’s 3.14 from Morgon’s Cote du Py. I’ve looked around, and there is not a lot of it available. But I tracked down a 2017 for just a little over $100. Winesearcher lists the average price as $232, so this seems like a steal. But I’m wondering what others’ experience is with this wine. I’m sure it’s very good, but at these prices I’m looking for something better than “very good”. Thoughts?
Hard pass. Not a fan. If you want Foillard, try his excellent plain Cote du Puy. 2019 is available.
I’ve had a bunch of it and I love it. Your question is a tough question to answer objectively. It’s certainly top-tier Beaujolais. Among my favorites. If you’re a fan of Beaujolais, maybe pick up a bottle to try it. Why not?
But it doesn’t transcend the appellation the same way that, say, Rayas or Clos Rougeard does. Not even close. It tastes very much in the same category as Foillard Cote de Py, or Lapierre, etc.–just perhaps a bit deeper and more spherical (and richer, if you like that; some don’t). If you don’t find other Foillard “great,” I doubt you’ll find 3.14 meets your high expectations.
Pricing is another matter. I bought the 2014 for $50 and the 2016 for $80. I’m not a buyer at $100 and certainly would never even consider it at $200+. Beaujolais is wonderful but, even at its apogee, it’s not going to rival top-tier Cote d’Or 1ers, which you can get for less than $200.
Something that is painfully obvious to everyone is that I know nothing about French wine. But I did have the Leroy Gamay about a year back and it kinda blew my mind. Maybe a Burgundian alternative?
A note on pricing: The $232 W-S average seems distorted. You have one retailer offering a few back vintages of it at an extremely high price driving the average up. $110-120/bottle is the rough going price for more recent releases, so you’re paying roughly market price, rather than 50% off.
My thoughts on 3.14: a well made Beaujolais, but I don’t find it to be even remotely close to twice the wine that Foillard’s Cote de Py or Eponym. I’ll take two bottles of those over a single of 3.14 any day.
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For a “cuvée spéciale”, Métras L’Ultime.
You guys are gonna pay triple digits for a Gamay?
Why not just pour gasoline on your wallet and set it on fire?
I will pay you $200– for every bottle of 1990 and 1991 Marcel Lapierre that you have.
Maybe they paid quadruple digits for their wallet so they wanna keep it.
I like Foillard’s 3.14 a lot and my reference point is neither Beaujolais nor Gamay in general. It is Bordeaux, where I’m typically paying in the $100+ range. In that light an $80 bottle of Beaujolais can seem reasonable: it scratches the same itch, but in that wonderfully glou glou sort of way, and also matures faster. But I would hesitate to call it profound, though I’m sitting on a mag of the 2007 that may yet prove me wrong when I open it in several years’ time…
If price is an issue Coudert’s Cuvee Tardive also works for me in riper years, and does so for ~$20 a bottle
Agreed.
In some vintages, 3.14 transcends, as does l’Ultime.
It’s price fairly to its quality.
The prices here sound like total madness to my European ears. Although already sold out, here the 3.14 cuvée sold for 45-55€ and that’s about the price I would be willing to pay for a good vintage like 2016. +100 bucks for a poor vintage Bojo? Lol no thanks. 3.14 is good, but not that good.
Since moving to the UK I’ve been absolutely delighted at the pricing of most European wines. US customers just get screwed all the way around.
Definitely. But then again, we don’t get any US wines here. And those few bottles that manage to make their way over here are silly expensive compared to their local prices.
Yet, I think I’m still on the winning side at the moment.
For sure you’re on the winning side Otto! I don’t purchase many American wines in the UK, save for Oregon. I’ve been surprised at the breadth of Oregon producers on offer here; it’s really blown up in the last few years. The pricing is not as unfavorable as one might think, either.
So I’m on the wining side as well.
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As my cellar approaches 1,000 bottles, I have more Foillard in my collection than any other producer at just over 15% of my entire collection. The first (or one of the first) Foillard I had was a 2009 Cote du Py. There was just something about that wine that grabbed me. I have that wine, I have Corcelette, Eponym, Fleurie, Villages and 3.14. Back when Py was in the low $30 price range and 3.14 was in the $60 price range, I would buy some bottles. Now that Py is in the $40 price range and 3.14 is in the $100 range, 3.14 has kind of lost me. I do think 3.14 is very good. I will probably still buy a bottle here and there to keep it in my collection. But I do think it has become a little overpriced in the current market.
Now quit posting about Foillard on this board. The less people that know the better. 
Love how much you have gone to the AFWE side!!!
I’m with you, as much as I love Foillard, the pricing as gotten tough. I bought a few of the 3.14 last release but not sure how much going forward. Maybe onesies and twosies.
Your quote made me curious, so I had to check: Cru Beaulolais overall makes up 25% of my cellar.
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FWIW I had the '07 Foillard 3.14 last year some time and it was one of the best wines I’ve ever drunk. Capital P Phenomenal.
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I have to ask - Leroy Gamay? Any more details on that?
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