Chateau des Jacques Morgon 2011
-
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A perfect partner for charcuterie, Italian foods and red and white meats.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Chateau des Jacques 2011 Morgon had been blended but still not bottled when I tasted it last December. A gorgeous, suggestively sweet nose of wisteria and freesia with candied and confitured cherry and blueberry accented by smoky black tea segues into a finely tannic palate performance in which the fruit mingles persistently with the aforementioned floral essences as well as a hint of game. The strongly gripping yet in no way heavy finish may not – as yet, at least – live up to the allure of the nose, but not only should this prove an excellent value worth following through at least 2015, it may well add complexity along the way. Two-thirds of its volume never left tank, the inverse of the ratio in the corresponding generic Moulin-a-Vent, and doubtless a sensible response perhaps to pronounced grape tannins. Nearly one third of the blend, incidentally, is now from the Roche Noire site previously subjected to a dedicated bottling.
Range: 90-91
Other Vintages
2021-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Panel
Tasting -
Spirits
Wine & -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The bucolic region often identified as the southern part of Burgundy, Beaujolais actually doesn’t have a whole lot in common with the rest of the region in terms of climate, soil types and grape varieties. Beaujolais achieves its own identity with variations on style of one grape, Gamay.
Gamay was actually grown throughout all of Burgundy until 1395 when the Duke of Burgundy banished it south, making room for Pinot Noir to inhabit all of the “superior” hillsides of Burgundy proper. This was good news for Gamay as it produces a much better wine in the granitic soils of Beaujolais, compared with the limestone escarpments of the Côte d’Or.
Four styles of Beaujolais wines exist. The simplest, and one that has regrettably given the region a subpar reputation, is Beaujolais Nouveau. This is the Beaujolais wine that is made using carbonic maceration (a quick fermentation that results in sweet aromas) and is released on the third Thursday of November in the same year as harvest. It's meant to drink young and is flirty, fruity and fun. The rest of Beaujolais is where the serious wines are found. Aside from the wines simply labelled, Beaujolais, there are the Beaujolais-Villages wines, which must come from the hilly northern part of the region, and offer reasonable values with some gems among them. The superior sections are the cru vineyards coming from ten distinct communes: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Any cru Beajolais will have its commune name prominent on the label.