Morgon “Château Gaillard” AOC 2020

Wine Description for Morgon “Château Gaillard” AOC 2020 by Romanesca

Colour & Appearance

A fairly dense, deep garnet red in the glass.

Nose

Dark, complex and surprisingly spicy: ripe sweet cherries and dark berries emerge, underlaid by warm forest floor, liquorice, seasoned wood and a delicate nuance of cinnamon and vanilla.

Palate

A powerful, almost muscular Morgon that presents itself as surprisingly charming on the palate. The texture impresses with silky tannins and an equally smooth, lively acidity. Sweet-seeming dark fruit meets a cooling mineral vein, which lends the wine a remarkable balance despite its 15.0% abv.

Finish

In the finish, it shows its complex nature with savoury, peppery and subtly smoky notes, lingering for a long time alongside the juicy fruit.

Terroir & Origin

The tiny parcel of Château Gaillard, measuring just 0.8 hectares, lies in the north-east of the Morgon appellation. Here, the approximately 40-year-old vines take root at a shallow depth in pink granite. Since the domain was taken over in 2018 by twins Antoine and Olivier Chastel, this terroir has been meticulously highlighted as a single-parcel expression.

Grape Variety & Vinification

100% Gamay from partial yield reduction (30 hl/ha). Hand-harvesting was followed by approximately 15 days of macération semi-carbonique with whole bunches in concrete vats. Final ageing took place over eleven months, also in concrete vats. The vineyard is currently in conversion to organic farming.

Food Pairings

Pairs exquisitely with Ticino-style rabbit with polenta, a classic juicy Quiche Lorraine or a hearty leek quiche with aged cow’s milk cheese.

Particularities

This is the maiden bottling of this single vineyard under the direction of the Chastel brothers. An extremely densely structured, fleshy Morgon that impressively dispels the cliché of light Beaujolais.