2010 Jean Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py James

Tasted as a pre-assemblage (based on the provisional selection of seven barriques) Burgaud’s 2010 Morgon Cote du Py James—once again, issuing from a single high-altitude parcel of 45-year-old vines—delivers ripe cassis and blackberry mingled with rose hip and black pepper on a strikingly aromatic and richly-concentrated, bright, mouthwateringly saline, and substantially tannic palate. The sense of crushed stone is stronger here than in its Javernieres and Reserve siblings, and the peppery bite accentuates the influence of tannin on the finish, which grips but certainly makes no concessions to easy drinking or charm. Even more so than in the case of the Javernieres, one wants to see how this evolves over the first couple of years in bottle to assess its ultimate potential. In Jean-Marc Burgaud’s absence, his father guided me through this estate’s 2010s, including a pre-assemblage of those cuvees that had not yet been bottled at the time of my visit, and an opportunity to further sample individual barrels. (For more about Burgaud’s sites, methods, and exceptional talents, consult my report in issue 190.) From among Burgaud’s 2009s, I have re-tasted stateside the Beaujolais-Villages, Regnie, and Morgon Cote du Py, all of which continue to enormously impress, the last-named easily justifying the upper end of my issue 190 projection. Unfortunately, press of time and circumstance has thus far precluded my revisiting Burgaud’s three limited special bottlings of 2009 Cote du Py. 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