ABOUT: In the early 1980s when quality went to shit in Beaujolais, Thevenet was one of the few who moved away from commercialized-industrialized poo-wine and focused on quality, drawing on the intrinsic goodness of his miniscule 5 hectares in Morgon, Beaujolais. Organic and biodynamic viticulture is the headset and works perfectly for him in Morgon and his son in Regnie. Gamay in Morgon expresses its terrior like no other; in wine school we are taught that Morgon, as well as a few others, age in a similar way to Burgundy. No truer example of this comparison than a bottle of Thevenet, where earthiness, silkiness and complexity reign supreme, with a structure that lends itself to good future development. TASTE: The 2016 Thevenet Morgon is one of those wines that is so approachable, so inviting after the first sip, that you want to tell people about it. Either that or guard your secret with a hatchet (2000 cases produced a year, minuscule). This is a well balanced wine filled with ripe, red fruit flavors, crystalline acidity and an earthiness, some kind of otherness that lingers in the background of the fruit and just adds the perfect edge of complexity. A long finish with a broader, denser structure than an average Beaujolais, lots of room for development. PAIR:Strawberries with goat cheese, roasted vegetable quiche, wild mushroom risotto, green olives, and sesame soy roasted potatoes.
