Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 109

red to drink with most any bistro fare. § Quintessential, Napa, CA

J U LI E N A S
275954

91 | Dom. du Clos du Fief

$23

90 | Domaine Chignard

$25

2017 Juliénas Tradition ^ Sourced from
45-year-old vines, this undergoes partial carbonic maceration in the Tête family cellars,
aging in vat so it presents an effusive, elegant
Juliénas. The wine's raspberry depths meet
gingery tannins and musky mineral notes,
welcoming now, but firm and structured for
development over the next several years. §
Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
276255

iron-edged tannins. And it's the tannins
that last, detailed in their mineral expression, suiting the wine to long aging. § Quintessential, Napa, CA
276756

92 | Annick Bachelet

$34

2018 Morgon Les Charmes ^ This smells
pretty great, hinting at the layers of flavor
that develop with each taste. There's a mineral essence underneath notes of green and
black olives, all of it highlighted by bright red
cherry and boysenberry fruit. Succulent and
grand, it's a ripe Morgon that lives up the
charm of its name. The fruit of 50-year-old
vines at a south-facing vineyard, this is a wine
to cellar to get the full benefits of its beauty. §
W.Direct, Lawrence, KS

2018 Juliénas Beauvernay From a high-altitude parcel on blue volcanic rock, the vines
planted in 1946, this Juliénas has the reductive stink of a natural Beaujolais, its flavors as
savory as a black-olive tapenade. The fruit is
ripe and brisk, the tannins salty and dry. Give
it a year or two for the tannins to relent and
the complexity of the wine to show. § Kermit
Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA
276126

89 | Domaine des Chers

$18

2018 Juliénas Vieilles Vignes (Best Buy) ^
Bright purple in its grapey fruit, this is a
powerful young Juliénas, the fruit of vines
ranging from 40 to 100 years old. There's a
jasmine-like bitterness to the fruit, the wine
needing bottle age to mellow. § Alain Junguenet Selection, Mountainside, NJ

MORG O N

90 | Maison L'Envoyé

$20

2017 Morgon Côte du Py (Best Buy) ^ Showing the rustic elegance of gamay on the
underside of ripeness, this has an austere,
gun-flint character to its tannins. Decant it
several hours before serving with juicy roast
lamb chops. § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA
276730

275915

92 | Domaine de
Javernière

$25

91 | Jean-Ernest
Descombes

$24

91 | Domaine Mont Chavy

$24

2018 Morgon Côte du Py (Best Buy) ^ Grown
in schist and volcanic rock, this wine's sleek
red cherry flavors develop power and intensity as they open with air. They infuse the
tannins with their juiciness and licorice
scents, glowing red in the midst of the mineral richness. This develops markedly with
air, as it will with a few years of bottle age. §
Quintessential, Napa, CA
276163

$24

2018 Morgon (Best Buy) ^ Jean-Ernest
Descombes was the first grower Georges
Duboeuf worked with when he started his
firm in 1968. This domaine is now run by
Descombes's daughter, Nicole Descombes
Savoye, who produces this wine for Duboeuf
from close to 30 acres with a southeast-facing exposition, the vines ranging in age from
50 to 100 years old. Made with destemmed
grapes in a partial carbonic maceration, the
wine is all raspberry, meadow flowers and

2018 Morgon ^ Selected from a 44.5-acre
vineyard, the vines more than 50 years old,
this undergoes partial carbonic maceration.
The wine makes a powerful mineral impression, the tannins almost aggressive in their
rocky intensity, the fruit substantial enough
to completely fill that structural power.
Potentially grand, this is well worth cellaring. § Quintessential, Napa, CA
276128

93 | Jean-Ernest
Descombes

$22

2018 Morgon Côte du Py (Best Buy) ^ This
starts off dark and smoky, gaining generosity
and fragrance with air. Its rose scent lifts the
red fruit out of the wine's substantial tannins.
Youthfully intense, this is a powerful wine
that will benefit from bottle age. § Alain Junguenet Selection, Mountainside, NJ

275864

2018 Morgon Côte du Py ^ Sleeping in its
tannins for now, this wine's fruit is fresh and
youthful, with a honeyed floral note of ripe
grapes. The tannic structure lends a sense of
grandeur to that grapey simplicity, suggesting the evolution that will come with cellar
time. § Quintessential, Napa, CA
276576

275918

91 | Domaine Rochette
https://www.maisonlenvoye.com/wines/Gamay-Noir/Morgon-C-te-du-Py https://www.quintessentialwines.com/Georges-Duboeuf-Domaine-de-Javerniere-Morgon-Cote-du-Py https://www.rivercafe.com https://www.quintessentialwines.com/Georges-Duboeuf-Domaine-Jean-Ernest-Descombes-Morgon
Wine & Spirits - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2020
