Winemaker Notes
Louis-Benoît and Claude Emanuelle had been interested in exploring terroir in Morgon outside of their usual estate parcels, and the short 2016 and 2017 vintages in their own vineyards gave them added motivation to start sourcing a bit of fruit for the first time, in this case from the famous Corcelette lieu-dit in northern Morgon.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Morgon Corcelette has also turned out very well, mingling aromas of raspberries, plums and smoked meats in an inviting bouquet. Medium to full-bodied, supple and velvety, it's one of the most charming, enveloping wines in the cellar. As readers will remember, this cuvée derives from purchased grapes, grown in a parcel that's situated at the comparatively high elevation of 470 meters and characterized by poor, decomposed granite soils.
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James Suckling
Attractive violet, raspberry and black-cherry aromas with a gently leafy edge, as well as some chalky, stony-mineral notes. The palate has a fluid feel with a polished texture and lightly tangy blueberries and strawberries. Light and even. Drink now.
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.