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2019 Côte de Brouilly
Alex FoillardWorking in Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly, Alex plays with the sometimes mind-bending and rule-defying nature of the special terroirs here.
Almost thirty years ago, Kermit introduced U.S. wine drinkers to four disciples of Jules Chauvet, the Beaujolais vigneron who experimented in making “natural” wines with unparalleled success. One of these followers was Jean Foillard, a soft-spoken perfectionist who has arguably become the Beaujolais’s most talented vigneron working today. He crafts reds that range from silky to succulent from the cru of Morgon’s top sites. Their balance, finesse, and age-worthiness are unrivaled in the region.
Now, Jean’s son Alex is fashioning his own reds from Gamay, and the apple certainly does not fall far from the tree. Alex has already joined the ranks of the region’s most gifted—and well-trained—producers. Where Alex has strayed is in the appellations he has chosen as a starting point. Working in Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly, which represent Beaujolais’s two southernmost crus, just south of Morgon, Alex plays with the sometimes mind-bending and rule-defying nature of the special terroirs here.
The general rule is that Brouilly is the Côte’s slightly softer, more sensuous sibling. This is perennially true with the two classic bottlings from Château Thivin, for example. With Alex’s parcels, however, that rule is reversed depending on the vintage.
I opened a bottle on Thanksgiving, knowing that its versatility would play well to all of the dishes on the table and it wowed even those in my family who are not generally Gamay fans. If you have not tried this wine, I can’t think of a better time to become acquainted.
—Tom Wolf
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Côte de Brouilly |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Alex Foillard |
Vineyard: | 30, 60 years, 1 ha |
Soil: | Schist, granite, light layer of sand |
Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
More from this Producer or Region
2021 Brouilly “Reverdon”
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The 2021 vintage proved an elegant one for Thivin’s Brouilly, with all the suppleness and tonicity you’d expect from this storied estate.
2021 Beaujolais-Villages
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This drinks like a Gamay infusion with lovely hints of potpourri, spice, and fresh grapes.
2020 Côte de Brouilly
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Alex Foillard fashions a Côte-de-Brouilly that strikes a deeper register, saturating the senses with tooth-staining fruit, gritty earth, and just a touch of the good funk.
2020 Brouilly
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A generous dash of plump, sun-ripened fruit enveloping a granite core.
2022 Fleurie
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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.
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Charly Thévenet and his father, Jean Paul, now bottle a range of five different wines in their cellars in Villié-Morgon
2021 Brouilly
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A generous dash of plump, sun-ripened fruit enveloping a granite core.
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Nicole's thick, chewy Côte de Brouilly is a delicious and satisfying wine aging at a glacial pace.
2023 Vin de France Rouge “Raisins Gaulois”
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This juicy red—loaded with bright, playful fruit—is low in alcohol and delightfully refreshing.
2021 Morgon “Charmes - Infusion”
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This classic, cool-weather vintage of Quentin Harel’s one hectare holding in Morgon spends three months macerating in concrete amphora. The result is a distinct softening of its crunchy, mineral-laced bramble.
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...
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