2009 Morgon

Very pure, with only the lightest of tannins. A lovely wine for Christmas night after a long, heavy lunch. Very suave textured. Beautifully balanced though far from heavy. (JR)

Marcel and Mathieu Lapierre showed me a March bottling of 2009 Morgon, although a portion of that same lot – destined to appear in U.S. markets – will remain in cask until September. Exuberant strawberry and red raspberry in confitured and distilled form are threaded with lilac inner-mouth floral perfume, striking notes of blood orange rind, nutmeg, toasted pecan, blond tobacco, and subtle hints of game and forest floor. Silken in texture, sappy and pungent, this finishes with an exhilaratingly animated exchange of fruit, flower, and mineral elements and a sense of levity rare for its vintage. It will be worth following for at least 6-8 years, though one ought only to cellar Lapierre’s low-sulfur wines if one’s conditions are optimum. If there has been a finer example of this wine, I can’t recall – and the September bottling will probably prove superior, hence the “+?” in my rating. (I would rate the September bottling of Lapierre’s 2008 – saliva-inducing and loaded with bright red fruits and iris florality – 91 points, but I refrain from re-listing it here so as not to engender confusion with the portion bottled in March, which I tasted immediately thereafter and reviewed in issue 184 – rating it 89+ – although on subsequent acquaintance would have gone on record as rating 90.) Imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

This, perhaps surprisingly, was the only 2009 Beaujolais on the list in June at the famous Daniel et Denise bouchon in Lyons. Bottled 25 Mar 2010 according to the label. Lots of fresh fruit and masses of acidity. Pure and straightforward though less mindblowing than our fellow diners had remembered it. When it warmed up it showed appealing taffeta crackle. Very lively. (JR)