Louis-Claude Desvignes is of the sparrow-type Beaujolais vigneron: raven-black hair that is, more often than not, standing in various directions, bright eyes and prominent nose, and a well-pitched, humorous cackle. His energy level is also twittery, and he barely stands still for a minute during a tasting in his cellars, offering a bottle of this and a bottle of that: various experimentations, filtrations, or finings, perhaps an older vintage of something educational. The seriousness of his winemaking, however, is never in doubt.
His vineyards came to him by inheritance and the Desvignes family, as the name suggests, has been making Morgon for generations. The vineyards are on the Montagne de Py in the center of Morgon, the fruit of which is of far superior quality to that produced in the outlying areas of the appellation. If there were a classification of vineyards in Morgon, Côte-de-Py would be a premier cru and Javernières a grand cru. They are located on the best exposition of the hill, with soil of decomposed schist, and Javernières is a plot within the Côte-de-Py with a little more clay.
In the past years, Desvignes has been picking the fruit later than the other vignerons in the area with a mind to get fruit of optimal ripeness. The wine is vinified by the traditional cru Beaujolais method with a grille to keep the cap submerged. Recently, the fermentation has been longer and more controlled than in the past in order to extract the color and material that are the most obvious virtues of this wine.
Morgon is, along with Moulin-à-Vent, the most age worthy of the Cru Beaujolais and Desvignes wines are fine examples. The wines age terrifically and take on the character of Pinot Noir, or pinotize (the term used in Beaujolais). When young, the character is of dark cherry, raspberry and blackcurrant. With age, the wines become more earthy, velvety with cocoa and coffee tones. At our request, the wines are bottled unfiltered some years or at most lightly fined.
A.O.C Morgon “Côte du Py”
Soil: schist and igneous, disintegrated rocks
Grape: Gamay
Age of Vines: 70 years
Exposition: North on coteaux
Name of Climate: Côte du Py
Vinification: whole cluster, traditional style (Burgundian). Fermentation for 12 days in cuve, then aged 13 months in concrete tanks.
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A.O.C Morgon "La Voûte Saint-Vincent"
Soil: sandstone and disintegrated granite
Grape: Gamay
Age of Vines: 45 years
Exposition: South East on small coteaux
Name of Climate: Douby
Vinification: traditional (Burgundian), with 50% of the grapes destemmed. Fermentation for 13 days in cuve, then aged 10 months in concrete tanks.
A.O.C Morgon "Jarvenières"
Soil: bottom of the Py hillside, deep clay soils with iron oxide
Grape: Gamay
Age of VInes: 65 years
Exposition: South-East
Name of Climate: Côte du Py
Vinification: Traditional (Burgundian), with 50# of the grapes destemmed. Fermentation for 13 days in cuve, then aged 9 months in concrete tanks
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