2019 Morgon Côte du Py

I have adored Burgaud’s wines since my first foray into Morgon. If anything, Burgaud is fine-tuning his craft, as evidenced by the fabulous showing of his 2020s. “We had 25mm of rain in Lantignié but nothing in Morgon,” he told me as we settled down for a lengthy tasting in his barrel cellar. “That gave me very good maturity in difficult soils. The Beaujolais Village has just 12.8° alcohol with perfect skins. Sulfur was only used after the malolactic in order to have 15-20mg/L of free SO2 and 50-60mg total SO2.” I would serve one of Burgaud’s Morgon wines to anyone unconvinced that Beaujolais can make world-class wine. He just has that “touch”. Consistency runs through his range, although his Morgon Côte du Py is blessed with je ne sais quoi and, as proven by my recent “Mature Burgundy” piece, inbuilt longevity. Burgaud told me that one of his importers tried to persuade him to bottle his parcels separately, but I agree with him: the blend is greater than the sum of its parts. However, he does make a special cuvée under the title of “James” from a small parcel close to the cross at the summit that is only produced in the finest growing seasons. His mineral-driven 2019 shimmered with nascent energy and should age well over the next couple of decades. The good news is that Burgaud has just purchased another hectare in La Coucelette. I cannot wait to see what he can conjure from his propitious vineyard.