We have followed the wines of Jean-Marc Burgaud for a few years now. His wines are nothing short of excellent and offer the sort of value for money that has us scratching our heads. When we tasted his 2025s earlier this month we knew they would be good, but had no idea just how good – this is one of the best ranges of wines from any region that we can recall tasting for some time.
Morgon is rightly one of the highest-regarded sites in Beaujolais, positioned beautifully on rolling south and southwest-facing hills. The cru level wines produced here are some of the most dense, rich and ageworthy of the region. Jean-Marc farms 11.5 hectares, including five hectares of Côte du Py itself, the biggest holding of vines on this hill. The old vines are farmed sustainably at high density to reduce Gamay's vigour and increase concentration. Winemaking is low intervention but focused on purity and precision, with the sole focus of revealing each site's unique character. The grapes are hand harvested, fermented as whole bunches and aged in concrete.
La Ruyère (formerly Les Charmes) comes from granitic soils to the west side of Morgon, which produce fragrant wines with open-knit fruit and a seamless structure. It is a perfect introduction to Jean-Marc's style and you can drink it tonight.
Chollet (formerly Grands Cras) lies to the south, just below Côte du Py on a mixture of clay and calcium that produces powerful, more dark-fruited wines. We love it this year, it has a darker berry nose with a peppery, floral lift on the palate. It is incredibly appetising with a fine-grained tannic grip and moreish, savoury edge.
La Roche (formerly Corcelette) is a one hectare plot planted in 1932 and many of the vines still stand to this day. The pink granite soils impart an mineral, chalky depth that had many of our team comparing this wine to fine premier cru Pinot - it will be worth tucking a bottle or two away for up to a decade in the cellar. This is an outstanding wine at any price.
Côte du Py needs little introduction. The vineyard's schist soils are rare in Beaujolais and give the wine its natural combination of depth, freshness and expansive aromatics. Jean-Marc's vines were planted from a massal selection in 1960. The 2025 is intense and perfumed, unfurling on the palate with red and black fruits and some exotic peppery spice. It will age gracefully but is already delicious.
The wines will be available for delivery in approximately two weeks.
