Purchased my first 15’ G. Descombes Morgon… Damn, nose is ripe, but on check with chalk and slate notes underpinning the cherry and ripe berry notes… There’s a little spiciness from the stems that rounds it out. Palate is full but again in check, with rich berry, chalk, dusty tannin and a round note of cherries that carries this through.
I’m not a Bojo purist, I bought heavily into 09’ as I love Burgundy but can’t afford to drink even village level with all the other regions im trying to keep up with and find these ripe vintages a great replacement for around $20 a bottle. This fits the bill as it ran me $21 with tax and it scratches my burgundy itch.
Delicious and highly recommended for the coin, I think Bojo purists can even get behind this.
2015 Marcel Lapierre Morgon- France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (11/23/2016)
Tastes like overripe bojo to me. Maybe I would have liked it more blind? (87 pts.)
2015 Yvon Métras Beaujolais- France, Burgundy, Beaujolais (1/14/2017)
A little band-aid on the nose but not objectionable to me as the scent is quickly replaced by lifting dark florals and typical bojo smells. My past notes on Metras have always contained language about red fruits and/or tart fruits - nothing tart here and the fruit flavors verge dark. But unlike the '15 Lapierre this does not taste overripe to me: there’s plenty of elegance and tension to the structure. Finishes with gobsmacking minerality and bloody, fleshy rawness. Really complex and cerebral drinking. (94 pts.)
2015 Jean Marc Burgaud Morgon Cote du Py - This is only my second 2015 Beaujolais, and more “serious” than the first. I can’t believe how sweet the fruit is here, almost shockingly so. It has good structure and should improve well with time, but it is always going to be sweet and ripe. I will say that it avoids being cloying somehow, but definitely a ripe cru Beaujolais.
2015 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive- France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie (1/23/2017)
Smell the warmer vintage, not overtly ripe, but definitely lush fruit compote on the nose; dark garnet color, nice intensity of darker fruit, again showing the warmth of the vintage, though not overly ripe, with decent acidity, plenty of fine tannic structure, and some nice flavor complexity. With the somewhat higher ripeness level maybe not as classic as the 14, 13, or 11, but quite enjoyable. Would make a great pizza/bbq wine. (88 pts.)
Follow up the next night: no doubt this is from a warmer year, but it sure is tasty, with a nice dose of fine, chalky tannins. I think this might be durable for quite a few years. Would be an excellent transition wine for someone without a lot of Bojo experience.
My impressions of the 15 Coudert VT were similar to Alan’s. I enjoyed the regular Coudert Fleurie more for current drinking.
Coudert VT - Dense, sweet and mineral. Its a bit closed though not tannic. I think the reg is more open, this is more concentrated, serious and should improve with a few years in bottle.
Ripe but not overripe. Good, close to what this usually is, just the heat of the year makes this a bit fatter and fruit/sweetness driven.
Coudert Fleurie - Bright, tart cherry, very mineral, white pepper. Ripe year evident but the wine has freshness/energy. Good acids in spine, fuzzy ripe tannin coats the tongue dries it a bit. Finish, long, mineral, cherry cough drop. There is a touch of heat and alcohol behind the vibrant cherry, mineral sweetness but its not obtrusive.
Very enjoyable now.
The only other 15 I have had to date is the Lapierre, which I enjoyed.
Paul, are you aware of more than one cuvee? (I know of just one bottling (aside from her sparkler) labelled Domaine de la Voute des Crozes/Cote de Brouilly.)
Done in a semi-carbonic style the wine has savory fresh and racy fruit flavors on entry (cranberry/strawberry) with some overtones of blood orange/“Campari”-ish notes and a touch of funk. Definitely not over-ripe for a '15.
Just had a 2015 Laurent Perrachon - Moulin a Vent “Terres Roses” 2015. Delivered 1 week ago.
A deep, dark, blackberry core wrapped in a raspberry reflection. Nose had initial notes of wild strawberry, leading to bay laurel and fresh raspberry jam, and also a moderate barnyard/manure quality, which I like. Nose did shutdown after these initial impressions showing only a bit of heat. Palate is raspberry jam at the moment but with a wonderful freshness that carries through a surprisingly lengthy finish. Definitely shows the opulence of the vintage but with so much excellent acid I am optimistic for the next 5-10 years, but I don’t know how I’ll forget about these through this summer.
On a separate note this was the first Garagiste purchase in a long time that wasn’t of a wine I knew already. But at the price, I was willing to take the risk…on a case. 1/2 a bottle and a Burrrito al pastor later I’m pretty content. 13%abv
had a 2015 Chanrion Cote de Brouilly, Domaine de la Voute des Crozes. initially on pop-and-pour, a whiff of sourness/acidity and some farmhouse, wonder if this is what people refer to as Brett? Went away with time and esp with food, the wine still had a good amount of acidity/brightness, but also a lot of cherry/dark fruits, some of the crystalline-sugar candied taste that I get sometimes with Beaujolais, nice mineral tinge, and was surprisingly big on the palate, as noted above. Really nice, esp for the price, $18.98 at wine exchange in the OC.
The 2015 Foillard Morgon Corcelette and Cote du Py arrived in my warehouse yesterday and I grabbed a bottle of each when dashing out the door. Both are a similar, saturated ruby color and show the flesh and density of the vintage. The Corcelette, from sandier soils, is, however, more open and generous at this very early stage. It is more floral on the nose and more generous and broad in the mouth. The Cote du Py has the same florals on the nose, but it is more reticent and mineral/stony. On the palate, the dark red fruit is rich and ample, but it is a tighter, more focused, linear wine than the Corcelette. These are ripe wines and they will have their place, particularly for those who prefer richness and flesh in their Beaujolais. Also, they have plenty of material to go the distance and stretch out to become more lithe, transparent and nuanced.
Well, for my palate, comparing another Beaujolais vintage to 2014 is hardly fair as it is, across the board, the best that I have ever tasted. For me, 2014 Beaujolais is like 2010 red Burgundy; the wines are fresh and pure, and the balance near perfect. Foillard’s 2014s are, to my palate, perfectly ripe and all of the other constituents just as they should be. The 2015s differ in that they are riper. That said, I just finished the remainder of the 2015 Corcelette and Cote du Py (they have been opened but re-corked for three days) and I am enjoying them more than on day one. They will have fans among those who like bigger, chewier Beaujolais and I expect that I, too, will enjoy them a lot in 10-15 years when I expect that the 2014s and 2015s will be more similar than different. I will be cellaring a few cases of each vintage as I do with every Foillard vintage. There are few surer bets for $35.
Foillard Cote du Py, imho, is a distinctive wine in any vintage, and stands apart from most other cru Beajolais - your pride in carrying them is justified.
Thanks in memorium to Joe Dougherty for introducing me to this vigneron.
Just had this the last 2 nights. We drink a LOT of Bojo in this house, several mixed cases worth per year. I’ve enjoyed some previous vintages considerably more. The 2015 is relatively dark fruited with decent acidity (certainly not searing, then again I’m an acidophile). It’s a bit chewy, rich and somewhat blocky…at least compared to lighter more dynamic years. It stays balanced head to toe. I didn’t catch much if any secondary nuance. Definitely a fruit forward version. I’m happy it’s not one of the uber-ripe 14 - 15% monsters I’ve heard stories about. For $18 - $24, a solid purchase for weeknight consumption. We’ll drink through our 3 bottles with no complaints…but so far, not feeling inspired enough to re-stock.
Grabbed two half bottles at Kermit Lynch, a Thivin Cote de Brouilly and the Diochin Moulin-a-vent.
Either my palate or the 2015 Thivin CdB was flawed, or it will need a few years to calm down. I love tart wines but this was unspeakably sour for a couple hours after opening, though it did unwind a bit at that point, and you could practically smell that pink granite and a touch of red fruit. No overripeness in this bottle.
The 2015 Diochin Moulin-a-vent opened with some very ripe lush dark fruit, but after 30min in the glass actually settled back into a leaner profile. Mineral tinged and a bit stemmy, I like this one despite being somewhat, well, blocky as Richard Trimpi called it above. Much more tannin on the finish than the Thivin CdB.
I had a Thivin CdB tonight, my third bottle of the 2015, and it’s really on its game. I do wonder if Rory had an off bottle, because none of them were especially tart for Bojo, much less sour. To the contrary, I could see it being maybe a little big and bold for the Bojo purist type (of which I am not really one, I just like delicious wine).
Really a wine that would outperform not just many wines twice its price, but many reallygood wines twice its price.
It’s interesting to compare this thread, where the reactions to 2015 are so uneven, with the 2014 thread, where the love is near-universal (and rightly so). I do think you really need to pick your spots in this vintage. Some of my normally reliable producers really struggled to craft balanced wines while others (Thivin, Lapierre, Sunier) captured the darker, bolder fruit of the vintage without losing freshness.
I’m eager to read more notes on the Foillard lineup (thanks for the early look, Martin).
