Placeholder Image

Isabelle & Bruno Perraud, Morgon “Grand Cras”

Other, France 2018 (750mL)
$36.00
/
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Isabelle & Bruno Perraud, Morgon “Grand Cras”

With each new vintage, Beaujolais further cements its reputation as a supernatural force to be reckoned with: It’s one of France’s top command posts for organic/biodynamic viticulture; still has extremely affordable vineyard real estate; and is home to a host of young, ambitious vignerons. While today’s “Grand Cras” hits all three, I want to take a moment to focus on the affordability factor. There’s delicious Cru Beaujolais, then there’s epic, groundbreaking Cru Beaujolais which only requires you to shell out a few extra dollars—try doing that for elite Côte de Nuits juice and a few extra dollars transforms into a crisp $100 bill. Truly, it would be difficult to name another wine zone in the world with such a critical mass of superb wine in the $30 range.


Isabelle and Bruno Perraud, makers of today’s elegant, vividly natural Morgon, exemplify the renaissance underway: They’re certified organic/biodynamic in the vineyard and their cellar work is all about minimal intervention—ambient-yeast fermentation, aging in old barrels, and bottling with a touch of sulfur. All this work is “brutal but vital,” they say, but one taste of today’s 2018 Morgon will tell you that it’s all been worth it. Coming entirely from a famed 60-year-old parcel that lies at the base of ancient Côte du Py, Perraud’s “Grand Cras” exhibits the purest Burgundian aromatics and each sip delivers sublime, one-with-nature energy that culminates with profound savoriness. This is unquestionably a top bottling of Beaujolais—and it’s available to you for only $36. This kind of value will never cease to amaze me.


The Perrauds founded their small domaine in 1987 and farmed “conventionally” (today’s way of saying “with the labor-saving help of chemicals”) but, in 1999, after Bruno became ill from exposure to an insecticide, the Perrauds urgently began converting to natural viticulture. They were Certified Organic by 2002 and fully biodynamic in 2018. What once was a small project with a little over a hectare of vines has since grown to a respectable 8.5 hectares across several villages, including Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, and Fleurie. 



In terms of winemaking, the Perrauds opt for the increasingly popular ‘semi-carbonic’ maceration, in which whole grape bunches are used in the fermentation but the vessel is not completely sealed up under a blanket of CO2, as it is in the ‘full’ carbonic method so readily associated with Beaujolais. There’s plenty of dark, wild berry fruit but it’s not quite as juicy and primary as it is in full-carbonic wines, and in the spirit of the best Morgon wines, a deep vein of iron-shaving minerality runs through the wine. It spent just six months aging in old French oak barrels, leaving the fruit and earth components to come through loud and clear, and was bottled without fining or filtration. 



“Les Grand Cras” is an esteemed parcel at the base of Côte de Py (home to the oldest soils in Beaujolais) and its old trunks are buried in decomposed blue granite. I bring that up because this unique, ancient soil has infused itself into today’s wine. In the glass, Perraud’s 2018 “Grand Cras” reveals a luminous ruby with flecks of magenta and slowly releases electrifyingly pure aromas of violet, crushed granite, underbrush, rose stem, and moss that perfectly meld with the ripe fruit at play: black cherry, red plum, raspberry, preserved wild strawberry. After a 15-30-minute decant to remove the slight “prickle,” pour this into Burgundy stems, give it a swirl, let it rest for a moment, and then voraciously dive into Gamay’s friendly yet decidedly serious vortex of crushed minerality, supple forest fruit, candied florals, and savory spice. It’ll pair well with just about anything you throw at it, but I’d recommend a traditional French dish, be it beef bourguignon or the attached cassoulet. Holding some in your cellar over the next five years is sound advice as well—elite Cru Beaujolais with a touch of age is hard to top!

Placeholder Image
Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceMorgon
Soil
Decomposed Blue Granite
Farming
Certified Organic & Biodynamic
Blend
Gamay 100%
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
Neutral French Barrels
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2025
Decanting
15 Minutes
Pairing
Traditional Cassoulet

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.

Others We Love