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Damien Coquelet, Morgon, Côte du Py

Other, France 2014 (750mL)
$30.00
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Damien Coquelet, Morgon, Côte du Py


This wine was raised in what has become a single-address epicenter of extraordinarily pure and soulful wine. Georges Descombes, his son Kevin Descombes, and his stepson Damien Coquelet all bottle wine together under one roof in the cellar of a farmhouse in the tiny, rural hamlet of Vermont, just 45 minutes due north of Lyon. It’s a difficult house to locate, and there is no tasting room or obvious signage. I was actually stood up during my last attempt to visit, but that did nothing to diminish my adoration for the property and its impressive roster of talent. The truth is, you can pull the cork on any one of the numerous hand-labeled, and often bargain-priced cuvées, that emerge from this address each vintage and you will be thrilled. There is never much of any one bottling to go around but each wine speaks with clarity and brilliance. The formula is both uniform and simple: Start with organically grown Gamay clusters from old vineyards, ferment with no additives of any kind, and bottle the finished wine with little—and often zero—sulfites. This is as pure, healthful, and effortlessly delicious a wine as we will offer on SommSelect this year.

Still, we all know that great wine is made in the vineyard, and I would be remiss for not sharing a few thoughts about the legendary hillside that birthed this wine. I came of age in an era when Beaujolais was often derided as an unsophisticated and disposable “beverage”, pale in comparison to its northern neighbors in Burgundy and those just south in the Rhône. Yet, Marcel Lapierre’s Morgon, Alain Coudert’s Fleurie, and Jean Foillard’s Morgon from this exact hillside—the Côte du Py—were so alive, so deep, and so moving that the global wine community had no choice but to eventually embrace Beaujolais. And today, these are some of the most treasured wines in sommeliers’ cellars and personal collections. Unlike many far costlier Village and Premier Cru Burgundies, these wines deliver every time. And in this beloved region, no hillside is more celebrated than the Côte du Py. This ever-crumbling slope of granite and schist takes the already thrillingly chameleonic Gamay grape and imbues it with an extra dose of energy, directness, and intensity. This is why the Côte du Py is a mandatory landmark as you travel the French wine atlas in your glass. 

The 2014 Coquelet Morgon “Côte du Py” has a bright ruby center moving to a translucent, light pink rim. As soon as the cork is popped, aromas of freshly picked strawberries, wild sage, crushed granite, white pepper and wet roses dance out of the bottle. And as the wine takes its first breath of oxygen, it unlocks bright cherry notes, raspberries, white flowers and a hint of exotic spice that brings up inevitable comparisons to elite quality red Burgundy. On the palate, it arrives all at once, a burst of mouth filling red fruit, with a silky and weightless presence on the palate, and a fine balance of refreshing acidity and gentle tannins. Each glass begs for you to fill another to follow. This will only become more nuanced and compelling over the next decade, and I can’t stress the extraordinary value that this modestly priced wine provides. I admittedly recommend this culinary pairing often, both because this is arguably my favorite “style” of red wine for daily enjoyment and also because I believe no dish partners so flatteringly or consistently. If you have never prepared the Zuni Chicken recipe with an energetic and medium bodied red, now is the time. (Note: Plan ahead when preparing it as you need to dry brine the Chicken with salt at least a day before). Serve with numerous bottles of this wine at 60 degrees and invite your best friends!
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Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceMorgon
Soil
Granite
Farming
Organic
Blend
Gamay
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
Neutral

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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