Drink More Beaujolais: Burgaud, Desvignes and Descombes!
7/28/25 -
Jean-Marc Burgaud
Jean-Marc Burgaud, based in Morgon, farms 19 hectares: 5 ha of Beaujolais-Villages, monopole of Chateau de Thulon in Lantignié, 1 ha in Régnié (lieu dit Vallieres) and 13 ha in Morgon (lieu dits Côte du Py, Les Charmes, Les Cras, Javernières and James). (The Cote de Py is pictured above) While the Burgaud wines are beautifully supple and forward for early drinking, the Morgon lieu-dits are structured enough for 10 to 15 years of aging. Prices at the estate remain reasonable, but will increase in August - the wines disappear quickly so don't delay!
"Jean-Marc Burgaud is rightly seen as one of the leading winemakers in Beaujolais...the wines have an unerring ability to age. This is Gamay at its purest and most terroir-specific. The (2023) wines are less opulent than their 2022 counterparts but may well display more complexity and personality. The top cuvées in Côte du Py, including the Javernières and Cuvée James bottlings, are both exceptional, as are the Grand Cras (which will be renamed La Roche starting with the 2024 vintage) and the Corcelette." - Neal Martin in Vinous
Georges Descombes
We find the wines of Georges Descombes to be among the finest and most consistent of the Beaujolais Crus, always with moderate alcohol, lovely complex fruit and beautiful expression of each terroir. Located in Vermont, a tiny hamlet in Villié-Morgon, Georges Descombes is the unofficial fifth member of the famous "Gang of Four." Grapes are hand-harvested, then stored in a temperature controlled container before being placed in 60 hl cement tanks. A traditional, semi-carbonic maceration occurs, and the wine ferments from its ambient yeasts. A minuscule dose of sulfur is usually added before bottling. For each Cru, Georges produces old vine cuvées which are vinified separately, then aged in barrel twelve months before bottling.
Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes
Claude-Emmanuelle and Louis-Benoît Desvignes are the eight generation to work their superb parcels in Morgon. Farming is now certified organic and the style has softened slightly from that of Louis-Claude while retaining the structure for long aging. If there were a classification of vineyards in Morgon, Côte du Py would be a premier cru and Javernières a grand cru, with the "Aux Pierres" coming from a 0.57-hectare plot of 90-year-old vines on the steep, east-facing slope. The soils are iron-rich, red clay with schist, pyrite and decomposed volcanic rocks. It's a true "vin de garde" made in tiny quanities...
