Annual Beaujolais Bash-First Chance to Assess 2010

A terrific array of wines, noted alphabetically by producer rather than in the order in which they were tasted. Please forgive the brief, impressionistic notes for most of the wines as there was little opportunity to contemplate and savor.

• 2011 Maison P-U-R (Cyril Alonso and Florian Looze) Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau

  Quite a lot going on here for a nouveau wine. Very good. Far superior to the Foillard.

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• 2010 Maison P-U-R (Cyril Alonso and Florian Looze) Beaujolais-Villages Très Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages

  Wow, this was like a bolt from the blue! After so many lighter styled 2010s, unbelievable volume and creamy, old vine texture. Delicious and incredible for a Beaujolais Villages. Chapeau!

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• 2010 Maison P-U-R (Cyril Alonso and Florian Looze) Morgon Côte du Py

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Lighter color and weight than the Beaujolais Villages. Completely different profile-leaner, stony and classic. Also very good, although it does not have the immediate sex appeal of the former wine. Reminded me of the Piron or Diochon styles.

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• 2008 Guy Breton Régnié

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié

  Light color, herbal nose and flavors. OK.

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• 2010 Guy Breton Régnié

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié

  A clear step up from the '08 in clarity of fruit and texture, while still having some herbaceousness.

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• 2010 Guy Breton Morgon

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Light weight. Crunchy red fruit and licorice. Delicate and typical.

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• 2010 Domaine de la Voute des Crozes Côte de Brouilly

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Côte de Brouilly

  Lighter style than the Thivin. Peppery with herbaceousness-is this fully ripe? Not that appealing.

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• 2009 Damien Coquelet Beaujolais-Villages

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages

  Light, relatively ripe, exuberant red fruit. Drink now with pleasure.

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• 2008 Damien Coquelet Chiroubles

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Chiroubles

  Noticeably high acid but better fruit than most of the '08s. Nothing special.

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• 2010 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Very attractive mix of soil and caramel. Excellent cherry fruit. This is one of the few complete 2010s tasted tonight.

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• 2009 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Completely consistent with our tasting of this wine last week in Fleurie-big, powerful and exquisitely balanced. This should go on to be great.

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• 2009 Georges Descombes Beaujolais-Villages

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages

  Earthy, tart, acidic. Little to like about this one. The "anti-2009".

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• 2009 Georges Descombes Morgon

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Lean and mineral. Rather slight for a Morgon from this vintage and infinitely less interesting than the Vieilles Vignes bottling (noted on November 6th). It is troubling to see such a chasm between between these 2 bottlings, but there is no question as to how to direct one's dollars.

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• 2009 Georges Descombes Brouilly

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Brouilly

  Lighter than the Morgon with a funky edge. Would pass on this as it is not very good.

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• 2011 Jean Foillard Beaujolais Nouveau

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais Nouveau

  Not a whole lot here.

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• 2008 Jean Foillard Fleurie

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Bright floral nose. Low acidity, muddy fruit, herbal finish. Unlike the '07, not worth the price.

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• 2007 Jean Foillard Fleurie

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Violets, bitter cherry, good acidity. This is lovely at present and should last.

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• 2009 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Magnum. Like the Cuvee Marcel, winey, sumptuous, sappy black cherry. Quite tannic tonight out of this format. One of the standouts in this series.

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• 2008 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte du Py

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Much leaner than the '09. Attractive, subtle core of gentle red fruit with some of the green element of '08s on the finish. Good to go now, unlike the younger vintage.

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• 2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Magnum. Light weight, tart red fruit, some sap, already far more complex than the other '09s tasted tonight.

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• 2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon Cuvée Marcel Lapierre

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Riper, sappier, more weighty and tannic than the regular cuvee. This is wine! Will improve over the next decade.

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• 2009 Julien Sunier Régnié

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié

  Magnum. Big, ripe, rich and plodding.

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• 2009 Julien Sunier Fleurie

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Magnum. Nice, lively red fruit and spice. Much more pleasing weight than the Regnie.

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• 2009 Julien Sunier Morgon

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Somewhere between the Regnie and the Fleurie in heft. Good length but hardly the most complex Morgon, especially comparing it to the Lapierre, for example. Not an overly impressive range of wines, but of the three, I preferred the Fleurie.

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• 2010 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Beaujolais Cuvée l'Ancien Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais

  Pale. Tart, dark fruit. Good and utterly typical.

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• 2010 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Fleurie

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

  Floral, spicy, light and entirely enjoyable. Only ding is that it finishes a bit short.

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• 2009 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Côte de Brouilly

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Côte de Brouilly

  More forthcoming than 6 months ago, but this still has a slightly raspy, cranberry quality wrapped in a lean, medium weight frame. Another year or two should round it out nicely.

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• 2009 Michel Tête Beaujolais-Villages Domaine du Clos du Fief

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages

  Light and uninspiring.

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• 2009 Michel Tête Juliénas Domaine du Clos du Fief

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Juliénas

  Nice texture with layering, natural sweetness of fruit without too much concentration or fat. One of the top 5 or 6 wines tonight.

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• 2009 Charly Thevenet Régnié Grain & Granit

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié

  Still with an overripe, pruny nose, but I will say that over the year, it has become more svelte and structured on the palate. OK, perhaps less overwhelming, but far from my favorite.

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• 2010 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon

  Crisp blackberry fruit and graphite. More punch and focus than the Breton.

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• 2010 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Côte de Brouilly

  Good sweet fruit, medium body, quite tannic. Better in a year or so.

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• 2009 Trénel Fils Saint-Amour

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Saint-Amour

  Light, fruity and pretty.

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Some real winners amongst the new vintage, which can be very good but can also veer to the insubstantial:
2010 PUR Beaujolais-Villages (a real stunner for its level and a new producer to me), 2010 Clos de la Roilette, and to a lesser extent, 2010 Terres Dorees Fleurie. The 2009s from Clos de la Roilette, Foillard, Lapierre and Michel Tete continue to be beauties, but the first 2 at least seem to be entering a more closed phase.

Biggest disappointments:
The Sunier wines and the regular 2009 cuvees from Georges Descombes-at least the Morgon VV seems to be worth the wait and extra $$ compared to these.