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2021 Beaujolais-Villages
Alex FoillardAlex may be young, but his wines show plenty of wisdom and depth. In fact, Alex’s Beaujolais-Villages is a sort of tightrope act, looking for that Guy Breton-esque burst of airy pleasure, mixed with a, dare I say it, Jean Foillard-like depth and grip. I was hoping to avoid adding the inevitable mention of Jean when speaking about Alex’s wines, but I just can’t help but think of this as the most compelling and delicious Beaujolais cross-pollination one could wish for.
—Chris Santini
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2021 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Beaujolais-Villages |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Alex Foillard |
Winemaker: | Alex Foillard |
Vineyard: | 70 years old |
Soil: | Limestone, Sand |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 12% |
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About The Producer
Alex Foillard
The son of “Gang of Four” producer Jean Foillard, Alex had early exposure to the principles of sustainable farming and low-intervention winemaking. Alex’s involvement in the family business began at a young age, helping his father pick grapes during harvest. After studying agriculture at the Lycée Agricole in Montpellier and earning a degree in viticulture and enology in Beaune, Alex purchased his own vineyards, a hectare each in the crus of Brouilly and Côte-de-Brouilly. He works his vines according to organic principles and uses tried-and-true techniques to craft his wines: whole-cluster fermentation with natural yeasts, no fining or filtration, and no additives save for a minute sulfur dose at bottling. As a result, his cuvées have a seductive aromatic component, a silky texture, and a downright deliciousness that is unmistakably 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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Kermit once said...
Kermit once said...
Living wines have ups and downs just as people do, periods of glory and dog days, too. If wine did not remind me of real life, I would not care about it so much.