Jean-Marc Burgaud, based in Villié-Morgon, is a top Beaujolais grower who is also considered to be one of the finest winemakers in Morgon. Coming from a family of winemakers, Jean-Marc ventured into wine-making in 1989. When he started making wines, he rented 3 hectares of vines and used the cellar of his aunt’s castle, called the Château de Thulon, to make wines. He aims to bring out his passion for wine-making in every bottle that reaches his customers.
Jean-Marc owns 19 hectares of vineyards, out of which 13 are located in his Morgon estate, one hectare in Régnié and five hectares in the Beaujolais-Villages area. His first Domaine comprises seven hectares of vineyards in the Morgon’s Côte du Py, out of which 4.5 hectares are located at the summit. The Burgaud family is the most prominent owner of vineyards in the Côte du Py. The vineyards were planted between 1940 and 1974, and all goblets are trained and planted for high density. His obsession with the quality of the fruit used in the wine has prompted Jean-Marc only to use fruits from his estate. Jean-Marc believes that the secret to making good wine is knowledge about the terroirs and how to get the best from the farms.
The Régnié grapes are grown on vines over fifty years old in sandy, stony soil. Traditional methods involving manual labour are used in harvesting and vinification, as done for generations.
The wine-making is done with the stems, but Jean-Marc never destems. The wines are often made against surmounting odds - other winemakers had to delay their bottling of the wines due to the delay in the fermentation. But the wines made by Jean-Marc are renowned for their acidity levels and ripeness. Vinification in the cellars is carried out with traditional Burgundian methods. The whole cluster of grapes is macerated in vats for various durations based on appellation and vintage. Apart from indigenous yeast and sulphur during bottling, nothing else is added to the wines.
Ageing of the vines takes place in concrete or barrique for several months before bottling. Certain cuvées are lightly filtered before bottling to preserve respect for the vineyards. Bottling at the Domaine begins in April and goes on till August.
http://www.jean-marc-burgaud.com
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