For a variety of reasons, Morgon is both literally and figuratively central to the cru Beaujolais story. It’s an expansive appellation in the context of the larger cru zone: the second largest of all the crus, at just over 1100ha. 250 producers make 7.3 million bottles a year. Many of whom are exported widely. And it is probably the appellation that is mostly closely identified with cru Beaujolais in general (in the United States, at least).
Indeed, Morgon’s storied ‘Gang of Five’—Thévenet, Lapierre, Foillard, Breton, Chamonard—were among the first wave of culty ‘natural’ Beaujolais to arrive on US shores, which catalyzed an early association of Morgon with cru Beaujolais in general in the minds of domestic buyers. The association has persisted to this day, although the spectrum of the appellation and the winemaking styles therein is, in reality, much broader. It also bears noting that, like Fleurie, Morgon has done a better job than the other crus at isolating specific climats and labelling wines as such. From both an educational as well as a marketing perspective, this makes the delineation of the various micro-terroirs within the zone much more easily digestible, and provides welcome clarity to the dynamic range that exists within the cru.
Any conversation of this dynamic range must begin with the predominant soil types present within the appellation. In Morgon, these types can be clustered into three distinct bands, two of which are somewhat predictable given what we have already seen in the crus to the north: sheets of decomposed, sandy pink granite cascading down the slopes that arc across the northwestern side of the appellation, and more alluvial, sedimentary soils to the east as the terrain flattens and pushes towards the Saone river. The third soil type is much more unique, and is localized to the south of the town of Villié-Morgon, around the hill known as the Mont du Py. Here, the land is dominated by a pyritic Carboniferous schist in shades of green and black and blue, rich in iron and manganese, and riddled with fissures ideally-suited to the roots of the vine. This is Morgon’s famed roche pourrie (‘rotten rock’), so named because of its crumbly, fractured appearance.
The Côte du Py is arguably the most famous climat in all of Beaujolais; in the right hands, it and the other schist-rich vineyards nearby can produce wines of extraordinary mineral intensity and complexity. And while it is challenging to paint a large and diverse appellation like Morgon with too broad a brush, it is precisely this mouth-filling minerality that is most closely associated with the prevailing style of the cru. Beyond that, there is cherry in abundance, along with a savory, meaty concentration. These are wines of power, intensity and weight—maybe not quite as tannic as Moulin-à-Vent, but substantial and serious in their structure. In older examples, an irresistible forest floor earthiness bubbles up to the surface, sometimes a whiff of exotic spices. And beyond it all, this defining mineral signature of smoke and struck flint and pepper spice, particularly in the wines grown on the southern band of the cru.
As one might expect from such a serious expression of Gamay, the wines of Morgon are among the most age-worthy of the entire cru area.
A full-bodied, powerful and meaty wine, Morgon features ripe cherry, peach, apricot and plum aromas and a deep garnet color.
Ref.:
https://www.discoverbeaujolais.com/discover-the-wines/intense-and-generous/morgon/
http://www.clubcrusbeaujolais.com/crus.html
https://beaujolais.com/en/article/video-aoc-morgon
