Jean Foillard

Jean Foillard and his wife Agnès live just outside the small village of Ville-Morgon in a large, old white farmhouse that they have renovated beautifully. Jean started making wine in 1982; first at the family domaine then after a few years he branched out on his own and started to rent and buy his own holdings (including a large, perfect parcel on the Côte du Py: the most celebrated climat in all of Beaujolais).

Today his holdings are 11 hectares, including a parcel recently inherited from Agnes’ parents in the lieu-dit Courcellette. It’s granitic soils are a little different to the iron rich, schist of the Côte du Py and the cuvée is bottled separately.

Jean Foillard is a fervent supporter of the natural wine growing and making methods of the legendary Jules Chauvet. This includes keeping whole clusters of grapes in vats for 2 to 3 weeks at a low temperature before fermentation, using only natural yeast, no pumping, no fining and no filtration. Furthermore he ages his wine in barrels brought from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti….. the results are sublime.

Foillard is a cult wine hero amongst the very many young, free-spirited vignerons in France who are now looking back to nature to make fine wine.

Crunchy, fresh fruit is complemented by a satiny, silky structure and some delicate spice. Elegant, soft, smooth and pure, in many ways these wines have more in common sensually with Chambolle-Musigny than regular, ‘run of the mill’ Beaujolais.

Foillard’s wines are a ‘must try’ for wine lovers who have not yet discovered this treasure of ‘true’ Beaujolais.