I tasted Burgaud’s 2009 Morgon Cote de Py James – which, as usual, issued from a single high-altitude parcel of 45 year old vines – from most of its demi-muids and barriques, and then in a close approximation to his intended final assemblage. Pure, super-ripe, soothing yet refreshing blueberry and blackberry fruit are laced with crushed stone and graphite; hints of game, floral perfume, brown spices, and smoky-sweet machine oil multifariously inflecting the wine’s aroma. The combination of sheer ripeness and richness with density and intense minerality reminds me of some Roussillon reds, but there is no want of verve or sheer refreshment either. Follow it for 6-8 years. If there were any doubt that Jean-Marc Burgaud’s talents match his considerable ambitions, his 2009s should put them to rest, as few if any finer collections of Beaujolais are likely to have been rendered in this or any other vintage. “They tasted good on the vine, good in the fermenter, good before malo, good after malo, and, so far, good in the bottle. Good balance, fine acidity, perfect maturity, zero grams of unfermented sugar, and alcohol from 13% to 13.5% – excellent but not excessive,” is the way Burgaud laughingly litanizes his results, but the wines are far more colorful – indeed, exciting – than that summary suggests. Given their quality and distinctiveness, one has to forgive Burgaud his proliferation of cuvees – indeed, anybody lucky enough to latch onto a share of his limited bottlings from this vintage will want to profusely thank him! Burgaud elected to give his early bottlings a light filtration – and was contemplating the same approach for his (“regular”) Cote de Py – because he said he wanted to preserve their vivid fruit, whereas they would have had to stay in barrel through summer to clarify sufficiently on their own. (If there were any ill-effects of that filtration on his early bottlings, I clearly couldn’t discern them.) Except for his three rarest cuvees – aged entirely in demi-muids or barriques – elevage of each Burgaud wine is spread between tank and demi-muids.A Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29; also imported by Ideal Wine and Spirits, Medford, MA; tel. (781) 395-3300 and Langdon Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA; tel. (213) 483-5900

Burgaud’s 2008 Morgon Cote de Py James offers a – for its vintage – surprisingly confitured impression of blackberry and boysenberry. Saline, charred meat and forest floor notes in the nose and on a sweetly-fruited yet vivacious palate lead to strikingly long as well as subtle finish, with an invigorating sense of fruit skin tartness and mineral salts. This cuvee combines uncommon richness for 2008 with the sense of attack and clarity that accrues to the best Beaujolais of that vintage. It should drink well for 3-5 years. If there were any doubt that Jean-Marc Burgaud’s talents match his considerable ambitions, his 2009s should put them to rest, as few if any finer collections of Beaujolais are likely to have been rendered in this or any other vintage. “They tasted good on the vine, good in the fermenter, good before malo, good after malo, and, so far, good in the bottle. Good balance, fine acidity, perfect maturity, zero grams of unfermented sugar, and alcohol from 13% to 13.5% – excellent but not excessive,” is the way Burgaud laughingly litanizes his results, but the wines are far more colorful – indeed, exciting – than that summary suggests. Given their quality and distinctiveness, one has to forgive Burgaud his proliferation of cuvees – indeed, anybody lucky enough to latch onto a share of his limited bottlings from this vintage will want to profusely thank him! Burgaud elected to give his early bottlings a light filtration – and was contemplating the same approach for his (“regular”) Cote de Py – because he said he wanted to preserve their vivid fruit, whereas they would have had to stay in barrel through summer to clarify sufficiently on their own. (If there were any ill-effects of that filtration on his early bottlings, I clearly couldn’t discern them.) Except for his three rarest cuvees – aged entirely in demi-muids or barriques – elevage of each Burgaud wine is spread between tank and demi-muids.A Thomas Calder Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29; also imported by Ideal Wine and Spirits, Medford, MA; tel. (781) 395-3300