Daniel Bouland Morgon Delys Vieilles Vignes 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

When most wine drinkers first experience Beaujolais, it’s usually in the form of Beaujolais Nouveau, a fun fresh wine, typically the first wine to be released from France each year. Kind of like lower level Hunter Semillon. It’s not very serious, but, great to hoover slightly chilled on a hot day.

Then there are the more serious wines. Both styles are made from Gamay, yet, from fun and fresh you go to wines every bit as intriguing as good Burgundy. They’re not directly comparable, yet, there can be similar traits.

The first serious Beaujolais I had was near 40 years old when I drank it whilst studying winemaking. It was a revelation.

Of late, the wines of two producers, have been popping up consistently as a pleasure to devour, those of Thivin and Daniel Bouland, oh and Foillard.

About Daniel Bouland

Daniel Bouland makes some of the most old school and expressive wines in the whole of Beaujolais. Hand harvested from very old, organically-tended Gamay vines in the Morgon lieux-dits of Douby, Côte de Py and Delys, the Bouland wines are defiantly deep, dark, country-style reds with plenty of grip and overflowing with personality. These are wines that are built for the long hall, unlike so many of the region’s wines. Daniel himself recommends five years in bottle for the terroir to show the wine’s true sense of clarity and mineral nuance. From the best years, 15 years will not weary the Morgon cuvées. This is not to say they cannot be approachable as youngsters.

“This tiny wine grower of the hamlet of Corcelette (note the first name as there are numerous Boulands in the area!) has seduced us for a few years now with his concentrated and textured Morgons. The fruit weight in no way masks the almost wild minerality of the soil. These wines have an intensity that can only come from old vines that are impeccably cultivated.” La Revue du Vin de France

Bouland portrays the artisanal Beaujolais vigneron in perhaps its purest form. He works alone in his vineyards where most of the material is gnarled, old goblet vines. His young parcels have been planted with selections massal from his older vineyards. Nothing is sweetened and nothing is taken away from the raw, visceral goodness of the juice. Hand-harvesting, very low yields, old wood, wild yeast fermentations, 100% whole bunch (open) ferments and non filtration, places him very much in the back-to-basics-dirt-under-the-fingernails camp. What we are left with is a serious glass of honest, handmade refreshment from a unique and respectful grower.

“Daniel Bouland is one of the best winemakers in Morgon. Perhaps his profile is not as high as the likes of Lapierre or Foillard, but I think his wines are on the same quality level. Check out his stunning Morgon Corcelette, one of the best examples you will find – his 2015 a must-have for any cellar. And his Morgon de Lys Vieilles Vignes, from vines as old as 90 years, has the complexity and nuance to rival many wines in the Côte d’Or but at a fraction of the price.” Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate

The Appelations

There are 3 classification in Beaujolais.

1. Beaujolais – Generic Beaujolais. much of this goes into Beaujolais Nouveau.
2. Beaujolais Village – The mid-Tier split between a portion of Beaujolais Nouveau and more serious wine released the following year.
3. Beaujolais Cru – The best gear we like to play with. There are 10 Cru’s.

Daniel Bouland’s vineyards are in the Cru’s of Côte des Brouilly, Morgon, and, Chiroubles.

The 2019 Vintage

“The 2019 Beaujolais wines are brighter and more delicate than the richer, more muscular 2018s or 2017s. Perfumed and floral, the best examples display all the succulent charm and elegance that Beaujolais purists prize…” 

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

William Kelley has nailed it. This is another outstanding vintage for Daniel Bouland and, if you have any interest in Beaujolais—or for that matter any interest in Burgundian-styled French red with ridiculously low pricing—you will not hesitate. He is also correct in how he compares this vintage to the equally outstanding 2018. It is finer, prettier, less muscular—but it lacks nothing by comparison in depth and intensity. In fact, at one point during the season Daniel Bouland told us that 2019 was shaping up to be very similar to 2018, before some late cool weather and rain kicked in, shifting the direction of the grapes and leading to wines that had more juicy cut and aromatic lift.

It’s worth adding that Bouland has introduced a further Morgon cuvée this year. Bottled unfiltered from a single foudre and smothered in silky elegance, 2019 is our first allocation from a recently acquired parcel in the lieu-dit Pré Jourdan, on the Morgon-Fleurie border.

As always, the pricing here still sticks out a mile when the quality and longevity being offered is considered. Pound for pound, these are arguably the finest French red values we can offer. But they are much more than that. Beaujolais lovers—purists or otherwise—are advised to fill their boots.

Finally, Daniel would never forgive us if we didn’t mention his new closure, of which he is immensely proud! Like a number of our growers, Bouland is now working with a cork manufacturer who individually tests each and every cork for taint and quality. While this has added to his costs, Bouland professes that the new closure helps this notoriously anxious grower sleep far better at night. Sweet dreams, Mr Bouland!

Wine Making

All Bouland’s wines undergo natural yeast, 100% whole bunch fermentation, before ageing in large, neutral oak, and are bottled without fining and only a light filtration. The process that most impacts the style of wine made is the 100% whole bunch fermentation. Also known as carbonic maceration.

Whole clusters of grapes are placed in a fermenter with the weight of the grapes crushing those at the bottom releasing juices that start to ferment producing carbon dioxide that protects the grapes from going volatile. Over time each grape begins to ferment indiviudally, creating complexity. The extraction of tannin is typically very gently. The techniques applied by the maker to manage the whole bunches during fermentation impacting the levels of extraction. The longer the wine is left before pressing to separate the liquids from the skins and stalks the greater the extraction, the more the work the ferment by pumping over the liquids or any other techniques the greater the extraction.

The aromas of whole bunch wines tend to be quite perfumed and elegant. The terroirs of each of the wines having an impact. As a generalisation, of Daniel’s wines the Chiroubles tend to be the lightest, followed by the Côte de Brouilly in the middle, with the Morgon’s the fullest bodied.