Jean-Marc Burgaud has been dubbed ‘Monsieur Côte du Py’ by Bourgogne Aujourd’hui magazine, and for good reason. His eponymous Beaujolais estate boasts five hectares of vines at the summit of Morgon's famed ‘Côte du Py’ vineyard. These gobelet-trained vines were planted between 1940 and 1974, at a high density, using massal selection. “Gamay needs high density to reduce its natural vigour,” says Jean-Marc, whose obsession with quality means working exclusively with his own, estate-grown grapes. This coupled with what Jean-Marc calls “la vraie vinification Beaujolaise”, accounts for the quality and style of these striking wines.
Today, the domaine comprises 18 hectares of vineyards across three appellations. Jean-Marc grew up in Lantignié, where he has 4.5 hectares of Beaujolais Villages vineyards. His wife, Christine, is from Morgon, and the domaine’s 11.5 hectares of Morgon vines were inherited from her side of the family. “My father used to tell me that Lantignié produced the best Beaujolais, but when I first met Christine, her father opened a 20-plus-year-old bottle of ‘Côte du Py’ for me, and that opened my eyes to the potential of Beaujolais,” Jean-Marc explains.
There are no set recipes here. Jean-Marc makes judgements based on his intimate knowledge of the vineyards and his extensive winemaking experience. “We don’t make wine with computers; we do wine by hand!” he states emphatically. According to Jean-Marc, a good Beaujolais must be made from ripe grapes to ensure mature tannins. Maceration needs to be undertaken for just long enough to extract these tannins without extracting any bitter, green flavours. He tastes his fermenting wines daily to judge when the tannin level is right. All of his wines are whole-bunch fermented, except for a small percentage of the ‘Chollet’ (previously ‘Grand Cras’), which is destemmed. Time on the skins varies from about 7 days for the Beaujolais Villages to 12 -15 days for the various Morgons, with only one pump over per day and pre-fermentation maceration completely avoided.
Jean-Marc’s Beaujolais Lantignié is a masterclass in balance, defined by red fruits, alongside a fleshy palate, with fine, grainy tannins and lifted perfumes. “Judge a domaine on its entry point wine,” says Jean-Marc, “I do as much work in the vineyard and cellar on this wine as I do on my Côte du Py.”
The ‘Ruyères’ (previously ‘Les Charmes’) is a lovely introduction to Jean-Marc’s Morgons. Sourced from old vines planted on granite soil, it is a wine defined by dark fruit notes, with lovely richness and tannic structure on a palate that finishes long and intense. Jean-Marc recently purchased a parcel of Morgon ‘La Roche’ (previously ‘Corcelette’) that was first planted in 1932 on pink granite and stony soils, it produces a supple and elegant wine.
The ‘Côte du Py’ is one of the few outcrops of decomposed blue rock in Beaujolais (Côte de Brouilly is another), creating wines of greater structure than many might associate with this region. Jean-Marc’s ‘Côte du Py’ is unoaked, allowing the intensity and minerality of the fruit from his south-facing ‘Côte du Py’ parcels to shine through. Described as a “marvel” by Neal Martin of Vinous, Jean-Marc’s top wine is his Morgon Côte du Py ‘Cuvée James’, from vines located right at the top of the famed hill, close to the cross. With a core of vibrant black cherry and raspberry fruit, subtle floral notes and seamlessly integrated oak, like its namesake, James Bond, it is a seriously suave wine.
