Gamay, Georges Descombes 'Morgon'

100% Gamay. The wine shows a bright, vivid red/black color with earth, violet and citrus notes mingling with lovely raspberry and blackberry aromas. The palate is ripe, silky and well-structured with fresh, velvety raspberry, cherry and blackberry fruit, with earth and mineral notes bringing texture and length.

About half of Georges Descombes' 15 hectares of vines are in the Morgon cru, spread amongst a number of different, mainly hilly parcels that are rich in decomposed-granite soils. There are two Morgon bottlings: one from old vines and this one, from the younger vines ranging from 5 up to almost 50 years old. The farming is organic, though not certified, and the harvest is manual. The vinification is traditional: whole-bunch, semi-carbonic maceration in large vats [cement, fiberglass, stainless steel] with native yeasts and no sulfur. The wine is aged in a mix of vat and large wood foudres for around a year, making Descombes' releases generally quite a bit later than those of his fellow vignerons. It is bottled with a very small amount of sulfur and a light, non-sterile filtration.