Jean Foillard
Jean Foillard is a winemaker, a craftsman who is responsible for the rebirth and global revaluation of the Beaujolais wine region, a land historically devoted to the quantity and export of simple and direct wines. A student and follower of the teachings of wine titans such as Jules Chauvet and Marcel Lapierre, Foillard took over the family business in the 1980s and gradually transformed his production of Gamay from a simple red to a bastion of his territory, managing to make this vigorous vine express finesse and depth outside of convention. Jean Foillard is certainly one of the points of reference (historical and organoleptic) today for the Morgon appellation, an area of about 1,100 hectares located in the municipality of Villié-Morgon and located in the northern area of Beaujolais, where there is a rediscovery of various municipal crus capable of giving elegant Gamays that easily tend to “pinoter”, that is, capable of developing after long refinements aromas and nuances that bring them closer to the great Pinot Noir of Burgundy. Foillard actively manages about 15 hectares, divided between Morgon and the nearby Fleurie, among which he boasts a parcel located on the famous Py hill, a true Morgon cru consisting of an extinct volcano: thanks to its disintegrations of schist and manganese it gives the vines a clayey and draining soil, with a very high viticultural vocation. Jean Foillard's Morgons are therefore born from the perfect geological composition of the soils, which makes the grapes healthy and rich in mineral substances, in conjunction with spontaneous fermentations, very low use of sulfur dioxide and semi-carbonic maceration in the cellar, a technique historically well-rooted in the Beaujolais territory that sees an enzymatic fermentation take place alongside the classic alcoholic fermentation: from here come purple explosions with delicious aromas of ripe fruit, enriched by noble tannic textures, complex bouquets and incredible aging potential that now represent the bulwark of a region that through artisans such as Foillard, Lapierre and Chamonard is experiencing its renaissance.
Jean Foillard is a winemaker, a craftsman who is responsible for the rebirth and global revaluation of the Beaujolais wine region, a land historically devoted to the quantity and export of simple and direct wines. A student and follower of the teachings of wine titans such as Jules Chauvet and Marcel Lapierre, Foillard took over the family business in the 1980s and gradually transformed his production of Gamay from a simple red to a bastion of his territory, managing to make this vigorous vine express finesse and depth outside of convention. Jean Foillard is certainly one of the points of reference (historical and organoleptic) today for the Morgon appellation, an area of about 1,100 hectares located in the municipality of Villié-Morgon and located in the northern area of Beaujolais, where there is a rediscovery of various municipal crus capable of giving elegant Gamays that easily tend to “pinoter”, that is, capable of developing after long refinements aromas and nuances that bring them closer to the great Pinot Noir of Burgundy. Foillard actively manages about 15 hectares, divided between Morgon and the nearby Fleurie, among which he boasts a parcel located on the famous Py hill, a true Morgon cru consisting of an extinct volcano: thanks to its disintegrations of schist and manganese it gives the vines a clayey and draining soil, with a very high viticultural vocation. Jean Foillard's Morgons are therefore born from the perfect geological composition of the soils, which makes the grapes healthy and rich in mineral substances, in conjunction with spontaneous fermentations, very low use of sulfur dioxide and semi-carbonic maceration in the cellar, a technique historically well-rooted in the Beaujolais territory that sees an enzymatic fermentation take place alongside the classic alcoholic fermentation: from here come purple explosions with delicious aromas of ripe fruit, enriched by noble tannic textures, complex bouquets and incredible aging potential that now represent the bulwark of a region that through artisans such as Foillard, Lapierre and Chamonard is experiencing its renaissance.
