Morgon Cuvée Vermont Georges Descombes (Domaine) 2018

Lot presentation

Morgon Cuvée Vermont Georges Descombes (Domaine) 2018

The wine

Recognised as an AOC in 1936, the Morgon appellation owes its strength to a distinctive terroir of decomposed rock – crumbly schist and rotten granite – which gives the wines structure, minerality and excellent ageing potential. These hillside soils, found primarily in the lieu-dit of Vermont, give the wine pronounced tannins, notable mineral depth and exceptional ageing potential. The harvest is carried out by hand with rigorous sorting on the vine. The wine is made using traditional Beaujolais methods – including carbonic maceration, spontaneous fermentation, no added sulphur, and extended ageing – to reveal all the finesse of the terroir.
This wine has a deep ruby-red colour with hints of violet. The nose is marked by generous and delicious aromas of ripe red fruits, violet and sweet spices with a hint of minerality. The palate is both full-bodied and juicy, revealing subtle silky tannins, a wonderful freshness and a delicate liquorice finish.

Georges Descombes' family had been winegrowers for several generations. Descombes was always more interested in mechanics and engineering, and that remains true today. However, he was also the only one in the family who wanted to take care of the vines. After studying oenology, he produced his first harvest in 1987 from some plots in Brouilly that he had inherited from his grandmother. This did not stop him from continuing to work in a bottling company and, as if that was not enough, working two days a week for other winegrowers in the area. It was only in 1993 that he devoted himself full time to his own property. He currently manages 17 hectares, of which 7 are in Morgon and the rest, in decreasing order, are in Brouilly, Régnié, Chiroubles, Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais.
Even in his early days, Georges Descombes was not keen on chemical treatments in the vineyard and has used organic methods for more than ten years. The only few exceptions to this are on the very steep slopes where it is impossible to plough and he must use herbicide. Most of the vineyards are ploughed, the wines fermented with natural yeasts and then vinified almost without sulphur using a carbonic maceration technique in concrete, stainless steel and epoxy vats. From 1993, he decided to chill the harvests, in order to carry out gentler, longer vinification (like those at Domaine Jean Foillard)