Jean-Paul Thevenet, Morgon, Vieilles Vignes, 2009 (Feb. 5, 2011)

This is the last of the batch of Beaujolais Crus that I bought in Paris a few months ago, and, on paper anyway, it promised to be the best of the lot - being the sole representative of the reputedly stellar 2009 vintage I was able to score in the City Of Lights.

In the event, it turned out to be an excellent wine, with all the complexity of a Cote d'Or Premier Cru, if not quite the stuffings of one. Not that I'm sure the style of these wines requires the same type and density of stuffing - Beaujolais are indeed similar to red Bourgognes yet have a different type of texture and thus don't need the cogwheels to be lined up the same way. Whatever, this is as good as the Lapierre, Morgon, 2009 and thus the best Beaujolais I've had so far.

The nose has fragrant red fruit, beets, sanguine, tobacco leaves, a melange of eastern spices and lightly pungent hints of coffee and freshly turned earth: I don't do grocery lists of aromas, but this wine simply kept its story going in installments all evening long. The palate has tightly focused purity of fruit that etches a long, saline finish with great precision. This feels like a lithe, classic old school wine that deserves time in the cellar that I'm unwilling to give it due to the producer's practice of administering only light doses of sulphur. Had regular imports been available, I'd have bought a six pack and gambled on a couple of bottles strategically tucked away in the coldest corners of my fridge.

About 25 euros.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Please tell me name and address of Paris wine shop
Mercy
Stuart
2GrandCru said…
I think it was somewhere near the Pantheon, not sure.
Anonymous said…
I opened a bottle of this wine a couple times this year (2014) and let me tell you that it is incredible today. Those wines can make it trough time even with low doses of SO2.