Domaine Desvignes Morgon Cote du Py Javernieres 2020
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Parker
Robert
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100% Gamay. Desvignes has 2 hectares of eastern-exposed vines averaging 40 years old in the historic Morgon lieu-dit of Javernières at the foot of the famous hill of the Côte du Py. The soils are much heavier and stickier with deep, iron-rich red clay here versus the more schistous "rotten rock" up the Py hill. The exposure is also more easterly; the wines tend to be dense but soft and more red-toned and elegant versus the darker, more muscular, older-vine ones off of the Côte du Py.
Viticulture and vinification are consistent across all Desvignes wines. The vines are certified-organic and harvested by hand. The clusters go through a semi-carbonic maceration in open-top concrete vats, with a submerged-cap maceration of 10-14 days. A very small amount of sulfur (1-2 grams/hectoliter) is added after malo and sometimes at bottling. The wine is aged in concrete tank for about 9 months and bottled with a light, non-sterile filtration.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Morgon Côte du Py Javernières is brilliant, unwinding in the glass with aromas of wild berries, spices, rose petals, loamy soil and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with impressive reserves of ripe tannin and sapid fruit, it's seamless and lively, concluding with a long, resonant finish. As ever, this is built to age, and it will reward patience, even if its youthful charms are considerable.
Rating:94+
Other Vintages
2021-
Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
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Parker
Robert
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The bucolic region often identified as the southern part of Burgundy, Beaujolais actually doesn’t have a whole lot in common with the rest of the region in terms of climate, soil types and grape varieties. Beaujolais achieves its own identity with variations on style of one grape, Gamay.
Gamay was actually grown throughout all of Burgundy until 1395 when the Duke of Burgundy banished it south, making room for Pinot Noir to inhabit all of the “superior” hillsides of Burgundy proper. This was good news for Gamay as it produces a much better wine in the granitic soils of Beaujolais, compared with the limestone escarpments of the Côte d’Or.
Four styles of Beaujolais wines exist. The simplest, and one that has regrettably given the region a subpar reputation, is Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the Beaujolais wine that is made using carbonic maceration (a quick fermentation that results in sweet aromas) and is released on the third Thursday of November in the same year as harvest. It's meant to drink young and is flirty, fruity and fun. The rest of Beaujolais is where the serious wines are found. Aside from the wines simply labelled, Beaujolais, there are the Beaujolais-Villages wines, which must come from the hilly northern part of the region, and offer reasonable values with some gems among them. The superior sections are the cru vineyards coming from ten distinct communes: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Any cru Beajolais will have its commune name prominent on the label.