Notify me
2018 Fleurie
Jean FoillardFresh hay on the nose, wet wheat field and moss. Light and living, charged with herbs, cranberry, and strawberry.
Jean’s wines, like the Beaujolais itself, have a way of bringing you squarely home. Each cuvée is unmistakably from here. The wine smells like the earth right before it rains and tastes like the pine forests high on the hills and the wild fruits in the underbrush. With vines unaltered by herbicides or pesticides, and every grape cluster twisted from the vine by hand, this is pure Beaujolais, and there is nothing better.
—Katie Dodds
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Fleurie |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Jean Foillard |
Winemaker: | Jean Foillard |
Vineyard: | 45-50 years, 1 ha |
Soil: | Pink sandstone |
Alcohol: | 14% |
More from this Producer or Region
2021 Morgon “Eponym”
France | Beaujolais
This cuvée shares the satin texture of all Foillard Morgons, and should age similarly well for those willing and able to wait.
2022 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
France | Beaujolais
If Beaujolais were Burgundy, we might consider Morgon to be Vosne-Romanée, with its haunting perfume and silky texture, the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.
2021 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
France | Beaujolais
Floral and succulent, bursting with notes of little red berries, but it is also delicate and light on its feet.
2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
France | Beaujolais
The 2021 vintage proved an elegant one for Thivin’s Brouilly, with all the suppleness and tonicity you’d expect from this storied estate.
2022 Côte de Brouilly “Cuvée Zaccharie”
France | Beaujolais
This is a true homage cuvée, with an old-fashioned soul and vibrant energy.
2020 Morgon “Eponym”
France | Beaujolais
This cuvée shares the satin texture of all Foillard Morgons, and should age similarly well for those willing and able to wait.
2022 Fleurie
France | Beaujolais
An opulent, mouth-filling expression of granitic terroir, this bottling has the delicate floral nuances and fine-grained tannin that differentiates Fleurie from the other crus.
2021 Fleurie
France | Beaujolais
Light and living, charged with herbs, cranberry, and strawberry.
2022 Beaujolais Blanc “Clos de Rochebonne”
France | Beaujolais
Different from the whites of neighboring Mâcon, this blanc is firm but also a touch fleshy.
2015 Côte-de-Brouilly
France | Beaujolais
Nicole's thick, chewy Côte de Brouilly is a delicious and satisfying wine aging at a glacial pace.
About The Producer
Jean Foillard
About The Region
Beaujolais
After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.
The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.
Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.
More from Beaujolais or France
2022 Morgon
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2021 Brouilly
Foillard, Alex France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon Tradition
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly “Cuvée Zaccharie”
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais-Villages “Cuvée Marylou”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2023 Vin de France Rouge “Raisins Gaulois”
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge”
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2022 Fleurie
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais MAGNUM
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2022 Morgon
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
2021 Brouilly
Foillard, Alex France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon Tradition
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2021 Chiroubles “Cuvée Léa”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly “Cuvée Zaccharie”
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais-Villages “Cuvée Marylou”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2023 Vin de France Rouge “Raisins Gaulois”
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2021 Côte de Brouilly
Château Thivin France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge”
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2022 Fleurie
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais MAGNUM
Domaine Dupeuble France | Beaujolais
Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
A good doctor prescribed the wine of Nuits-Saint-Georges to the Sun King, Louis XIV, when he suffered an unknown maladie. When the king’s health was restored the tasty remedy enjoyed a vogue at court. Lord, send me a doctor like that!
Inspiring Thirst, page 117