Jean Foillard

Jean Foillard is one of the most revered names in Beaujolais, and a central figure in the region’s natural wine movement. Alongside Marcel Lapierre, Guy Breton and Jean-Paul Thévenet, he was part of Kermit Lynch’s so-called “Gang of Four,” whose return to traditional, low-intervention winemaking in the 1980s helped redefine Morgon’s reputation. Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980 and soon began converting the vineyards to organic farming, eschewing synthetic chemicals and focusing on meticulous vineyard work to coax the best from Morgon’s famed schist and granite slopes.

His holdings are centred around Morgon’s most celebrated terroir, the Côte du Py, whose crumbly, manganese-rich soils give wines of both power and finesse. The majority of his cuvées are made using whole-bunch fermentation à la Beaujolaise, with long, slow macerations to extract complexity without hard tannins. Sulphur use is minimal, and élevage typically takes place in used Burgundian barrels, allowing the vivid fruit and stony minerality to shine through unadorned.

The flagship wine is the Morgon Côte du Py, a benchmark example of the appellation: silky, pure and layered, capable of ageing for over a decade while still delicious young. The Corcelette bottling, from sandier soils, is more fragrant and approachable in its youth, while the Éponym is a more muscular, structured expression from a specific lieu-dit within the Côte du Py. In warmer vintages, the 3.14 – made only in exceptional years – shows profound depth and an almost Burgundian polish. Foillard also produces a juicy, easy-drinking Beaujolais-Villages and a floral Fleurie that show his hallmark precision and finesse in lighter frames.