Georges Descombes - Morgon 2023 750ml (13.5% abv)
Georges' nickname is Le Noune. While many theories of its origin exist, when I asked he told me "my mom used to call me that". So it remains a mystery.
100% Cru Beaujolais from granite soil and vines ranging from 5 to 40 years in age. Organic farming, semi carbonic maceration, whole cluster/ambient yeast fermentation in fiberglass and steel with brief maturation in foudres and neutral barrels. Minimal sulfur (15-20 ppm) added at bottling & lightly filtered.
Winery located in Vermont, a tiny hamlet in Villié-Morgon, Georges Descombes is the unofficial fifth member of the iconic "Gang of Four" and is a firm believer that his wines benefit from time in bottle (or decant if you cannot wait to enjoy).
Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Guy Breton. In his teens, Georges worked with his vigneron father in the vines as well as a local bottling company. Hopping around from cellar to cellar gave him a chance to try a large amount of different estates, and the first time he tasted a Lapierre wine, young Georges was blown away by its purity and elegance. Then and there, he decided he would try to make wines like Marcel's.
Georges took over the estate in 1988 and immediately started shifting viticultural and oenological practices forward. Though his father had always worked traditionally in the vineyards and cellar, Georges decided to push things further by practicing organic viticulture (certified by Ecocert for many years, but now practicing without certification) and eliminating all entrants or manipulation during vinification. A minuscule dose of sulfur, less than a hundredth of what an organically certified vigneron is legally allowed to use, is added at bottling to help preserve the wines.
About half of Georges Descombes' 15 hectares of vines are in the Morgon cru, spread amongst a number of different, mainly hilly parcels that are rich in decomposed-granite soils. There are two Morgon bottlings: one from old vines and this one, from the younger vines ranging from 5 up to almost 50 years old. The farming is organic, though not certified, and the harvest is manual. The vinification is traditional: whole-bunch, semi-carbonic maceration in large vats (cement, fiberglass, stainless steel) with native yeasts and no sulfur. The wine is aged in a mix of vat and large wood foudres for around a year, making Descombes' releases generally quite a bit later than those of his fellow vignerons. It is bottled with a very small amount of sulfur and a light, non-sterile filtration.
In total, Georges owns about 15.5 hectares of land spread over five AOC's : 7.5 hectares in Morgon,
A well-structured Gamay with notes of black cherry, violets, and wet stones. Vigorous and bright with fine, perfectly integrated tannins and zippy acidity.
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