Morgon Montpelain

France
Beaujolais
2023

100% Gamay. Montpelain is a lieu-dit in the NE corner of Morgon in the climat of Douby, along the Fleurie border. Desvignes used to include this 0.75-hectare plot of 80-year-old vines in their entry-level "La Voûte Saint-Vincent", but its strong old-vine character warranted its separation starting in 2017. The vines are planted on silty, sandy clay soils, are certified-organic and harvested by hand. The bunches are mainly left whole, with about 10% destemming, and placed into closed concrete vats for a partly carbonic fermentation; maceration is 13-14 days with a submerged cap and no punchdowns. A very small amount of sulfur is added after malo (and sometimes at bottling). The wine is aged in 32-hectoliter cement eggs for 7 months and bottled with a light, non-sterile filtration.

93 points
"The Morgon “Montpelain” bottling from the Desvignes is made from vines that are now more than eighty-five years of age. The 2023 Montpelain displays a beautiful bouquet of red and black cherries, pomegranate, gamebird, sweet stem tones, a superb base of soil, fresh thyme and roses. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, ripely tannic and tangy in personality, with a sappy core of fruit, great mineral transparency and grip, fine focus and a long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. All this excellent young Morgon will need is enough time in the cellar to soften up its undercarriage of tannin. 2033-2075+. "
John Gilman,
View From The Cellar
May 2025

SKU/Code: 
DB5601-23
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Gamay
Farming Type: 
Organic