Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais Cru
After years of hard work, Beaujolais has emerged from the commercial marketing hype of Beaujolais Nouveau to secure its well-deserved reputation
as a world-class wine producer. This is southern Burgundy where Gamay, the grape of Beaujolais, attains all the pure expression and complexity you would expect from great Pinot Noir farther north. On a chilly afternoon in March 2016 we had the pleasure of tasting and hanging out with the extremely talented Jean-Marc Burgaud. Jean-Marc makes stunning Cru Beaujolais from Morgon, and more importantly, from the hill they call Côtes du Py. The great wines in Beaujolais are made from vineyards located in the hills of the 10 Crus running north-south in the valley. As Burgundy and Bordeaux have their Cru classifications, s
o does Beaujolais. These ancient soils of schist and granite impart structure and deep flavors of cherry and plum to the old Gamay vines on Côtes du Py. And they are extremely age-worthy too. Jean-marc works his 19 hectares (47 acres) virtually by himself and admits he couldn't tend much more with the kind of quality he expects. As he told us, “while it’s always possible to grow bigger, it’s important to stay precise.” Taste these wines and you will immediately appreciate the attention to detail that is reflected in his wines. We are absolutely blown away by these wines and are thrilled to be Jean-Marc's west coast importer. We only got a small amount of this superb 2014 vintage so don't miss out.