2011 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py

Bright crimson. Bitter cherry nose and absolutely packed with bitter cherry fruit. Open already aromatically but underpinned by appetising light tannins. Flirtatious and an inspired match for the cherry and smoked eel dish. (JR)

Brilliant ruby. Red fruit liqueur, cherry pit, incense and a smoky nuance on the assertively perfumed nose. Fleshy and broad but distinctly energetic, offering sappy raspberry and cherry flavors braced by zesty minerality. The finish features a sexy floral pastille quality and clings with outstanding mineral-driven persistence. Here's another '11 that nicely blends power and vivacity.

The Foillard 2011 Morgon Cote du Py offered a more settled-down, focused, and convincing performance than its admirable Cuvee Corcelette counterpart tasted alongside. Sealing wax, iodine, and a hint of shoe polish inflect its juicy fruit of black raspberry and blackberry, which as in the case of the aforementioned Corcelette bottling are showed by their distilled essences. Palate-staining and gripping yet smooth and infectiously fruit, this stimulates with parting references to crushed stone, iodine and the crunch of berry seeds. It should continue to perform strongly through 2017 if not beyond, but given their low sulfur and lack of filtration, Foillard’s wines should be drunk young if not being cellared genuinely cool. Imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524