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2020 Fleurie
Jean Foillard

Fresh 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: | 2020 |
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 granite |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 14.5% |
More from this Producer or Region

2020 Beaujolais-Villages
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Silky and seductive, with notes of rose petals, red berries, and stones.

2020 Morgon “Eponym”
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Drink Later: This cuvée shares the satin texture of all Foillard Morgons, and should age similarly well for those willing and able to wait.

2021 Côte de Brouilly
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2021 Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
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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 Beaujolais Rosé
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Simultaneously fun to drink and a wine of real substance, with an extra dimension of depth along with an array of delightful flavors and textures.

2021 Régnié “En Voiture Simone”
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The high-toned nose suggests an absolutely electric wine, full of delicate florals and tart berries, and the juice hits the palate like a dreamy cloud of Gamay.

2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
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Precision, soaring floral aromatics, finely etched tannins, a ripe core of dense fruit, and a granitic crunch on the back end.

2021 Régnié “Grain & Granit”
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Here is a rich, bold Régnié, saturated with luscious fruit and earthy spice.

2021 Beaujolais-Villages
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This drinks like a Gamay infusion with lovely hints of potpourri, spice, and fresh grapes.
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.
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2021 Côte-de-Brouilly
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2021 Vin de France Blanc “Perle de Gamay”
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2021 Morgon
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2021 Côte de Brouilly
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2021 Chiroubles
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon Tradition
Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet France | Beaujolais
2015 Côte-de-Brouilly
Nicole Chanrion France | Beaujolais
2021 Beaujolais-Villages “Marylou”
Guy Breton France | Beaujolais
2021 Morgon “Les Charmes”
Quentin Harel France | Beaujolais
2022 Beaujolais Rouge “Le Beaujolais”
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2022 Raisins Gaulois
M. & C. Lapierre France | Beaujolais
2020 Brouilly
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Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
Great winemakers, great terroirs, there is never any hurry. And I no longer buy into this idea of “peak” maturity. Great winemakers, great terroirs, their wines offer different pleasures at different ages.
Inspiring Thirst, page 312