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Auction update: Jean Foillard
Mature Beaujolais proves it has a place on the secondary market, with organic and natural winemaking techniques inspiring the next generation.
Beaujolais is synonymous with organic, biodynamic and natural winemaking techniques, making the region’s wine very popular these days. The granite soils, Gamay grape and semicarbonic maceration help create wines that so many have fallen in love with.
There is so much more to this wine region than Beaujolais Nouveau – the young wine released on the third Thursday in November – as many connoisseurs and natural wine lovers have realised. The 10 cru areas (vineyards of the highest quality within the region) produce wines with their own stand-out characteristics, such as the delicate wines from Fleurie, the structured delights from Brouilly and the cellar-worthy bottles from Morgon.
One of the leading names in Beaujolais is Jean Foillard who, alongside the likes of Marcel Lapierre and Georges Descombes, has inspired the next generation of local winemakers thanks to his use of organic and natural winemaking techniques. When Jean Foillard took over the reins of his family’s estate in 1981, it covered just four hectares. Its size has now grown to 23ha, with plots in the appellations of Beaujolais, Fleurie and Morgon. The plots in Morgon are split almost equally between Corcelette and Côte du Py, the latter sitting on an extinct volcano.
About 80% of the plots are cared for using organic practices, such as using natural compost composed of decomposing plants and manure, and organic principles are also followed in the winery, where no commercial yeast or synthetic additives are used. However, the estate itself does not hold organic certification as a handful of plots are too difficult to manage to employ these methods.
This is why most, but not all, of the wines found on the market bear an organic symbol on the label. The use of synthetic herbicides, fungicides and pesticides is banned; plants and herbs are left to grow between the rows of vines, which increases biodiversity and helps prevent water evaporation. Only limited quantities of sulphur and copper are used to treat breakouts of fungal diseases. Yields are controlled, so that the grapes contain more concentrated flavours.
Jean Foillard produces a number of wines from the Gamay grape variety, using the region’s traditional, semicarbonic maceration method of fermentation. Whole bunches are placed in sealed concrete vats. The weight of the bunches crushes the grapes at the bottom of the vat, allowing yeast naturally present on the grape skins to start fermentation. As a result, carbon dioxide – a by-product of alcoholic fermentation – fills the vats. The presence of this gas starts alcoholic fermentation within uncrushed grapes, and it’s this process that gives the region’s wines the iconic flavours of cinnamon and cherry, which can often be described as kirsch, as well as their vibrant colour.
Jean Foillard’s wines then spend time ageing in large oak barrels for around seven to nine months, before being bottled without being filtered or clarified to keep the wine “alive”, as its living elements are not removed by these processes. Depending on the wine being made, a small, homeopathic dose of sulphur may be added to the wine, but this is not the case for outstanding natural wine Morgon 3.14.
Bursting with fruit
As the flagship wine of the estate, Morgon 3.14 is only made in the best vintages from grapes grown in Côte du Py plots in the Morgon area. It’s bursting with fruit aromas, such as black cherry and raspberry, violets and spices, with a complex, deep palate that is always perfectly structured. Bottles can be left in the cellar for a good 15 years, making them perfect for the secondary auction market.
iDealwine, the leading French wine auction house, reveals that this wine reached its highest ever value in 2023 – a year when other Beaujolais bottles saw their value drop by about 20%. It was a Morgon 3.14 from 2005 that took this record, selling for €275 and, while auction prices in 2024 were not able to beat it, another 2005 Morgon 3.14 went under the hammer in November for €262, proving that mature wines from Beaujolais have a place on the secondary market.
The longevity of the 2005 vintage, which continues to obtain high auction prices, dispels the idea that Beaujolais should only be drunk while young, and that you can neither age natural wine nor will it appreciate in value over the years. For reference, the 2005 vintage has seen its price estimate increase by 137.89% over the past five years.
auction update – in association with iDealwine
About iDealwine.com
• Founded in 2000, iDealwine is France’s top wine auctioneer and leading online wine auction house worldwide.
• Fine Spirits Auction (FSA) is iDealwine’s dedicated spirits platform, launched in partnership with La Maison du Whisky, a French specialist in high-end spirits since 1956. Seven auctions of the finest whisky, rum, Cognac and more take place annually.
• Based in Paris, and with offices in Bordeaux and Hong Kong, iDealwine sources rare bottles from European cellars, private collections and direct from producers before meticulously authenticating and shipping to enthusiasts, collectors and trade customers worldwide.
• If you are keen to sell your wines or spirits, check out idealwine.com.
According to iDealwine’s records, 2009 is another well-performing vintage. Having appeared at auction four times in 2024, with hammer prices ranging from €212 to €254, its current price estimate sits at €231 and has witnessed a 208.91% increase in the last five years. Maturer vintages – ie those that are more than 10 years old – tend to command higher prices at auction, but that is not to say that you cannot find younger vintages on the secondary market. The 2017 vintage appeared 29 times in 2024, with prices between €122 and €200.
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