Alex Foillard Cote de Brouilly 2021

Alex Foillard grew up watching his father Jean redefine what Beaujolais could be, and rather than simply inherit the family reputation, he's spent the last decade quietly building his own name on the steep, blue-granite slopes of Mont Brouilly. This is Gamay from the volcanic heart of the cru — soils of schist and diorite that give the wine a mineral backbone few other Beaujolais crus can match. Farmed organically and vinified the way his father taught him, with whole-cluster semi-carbonic maceration, indigenous yeasts, and little to no added sulphur, it's a wine made with a light hand and a serious sense of place, bottled to capture energy rather than mute it.

The result is pure, electric drinking: a deep ruby glass bursting with crushed dark cherry, cassis, and violets, underscored by a smoky, mineral grip and a faint wild, savoury edge that marks it out as unmistakably natural. It's juicy and effortlessly gulpable on the front palate, but the granite soils give it real structure and a saline, stony finish that lingers longer than most Beaujolais dares to. Serve it with a light chill alongside charcuterie, roast chicken, or a plate of mushrooms on toast — this is the kind of wine that proves Beaujolais' new generation has more than a famous surname to offer.