Jean Foillard

These are among the standout wines of the vintage, displaying the marriage of depth and finesse that has made this estate (which now comprises some 14 hectares) one of the top addresses in Beaujolais since Jean Foillard took control of his family domain in 1980. Sharp-eyed followers of Foillard’s work will notice a new wine starting with the 2016 vintage, a Beaujolais-Villages that is made from the fruit that used to make his top-notch Beaujolais Nouveau. That wine has ceased to exist in favour of this bottling, as Foillard told me that while “it was a fun and popular wine the fruit deserved to be treated with more respect.” He’ll get no argument from me. JOSH RAYNOLDS

Jean Foillard was away from the domaine when I visited. Readers should refer to my introduction with respect to his son, Alexandre. Needless to say, these are extremely well crafted, low-intervention wines using minimal SO2, used barrels and no fining or filtration. All that is irrelevant if the wine does not taste good, and Foillard's wines have tasted brilliantly for many year. NEAL MARTIN