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Bibendum Wine Co.
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Domaine Daniel Bouland

Benchmark Old-School Morgon from a Grower’s Grower

One of Beaujolais’ more reclusive growers, Daniel Bouland makes some of the most old-school and expressive wines in the whole of the region. Hand harvested from old Gamay vines in the Morgon lieux-dits of Corcelette, Bellevue and Pré Jourdan, Bouland’s wines are defiantly deep, dark, country-style reds with plenty of grip and overflowing with personality.

These are wines that are built for the long haul, unlike so many of the wines produced in this region. Daniel himself recommends five years in bottle for the terroir to show the wine’s true sense of clarity and mineral nuance. From the best vintages, 15 years will not weary the Morgon cuvées. This is not to say they are not approachable as youngsters.

Bouland’s wines are some of Beaujolais’ most authentic and deep offerings from a true vigneron; a vigneron whose wines have justifiably acquired a cult following over the past decade.

Bouland portrays the ‘artisanal Beaujolais vigneron’ in perhaps its purest form. He works alone in his vineyards where most of the material is gnarled, old goblet vines. His young parcels have been planted with selections massale from his older vineyards. Nothing is sweetened and nothing is taken away from the raw, visceral goodness of the juice. All of Bouland’s wines undergo natural, 100% whole-bunch fermentation, in the classic, Beaujolais, semi-carbonic style, before aging mostly in large, neutral oak. All the wines are bottled without fining and with only a light filtration. The result of this simplicity is country wines of great character, quality and deliciousness. They offer remarkable value in the context of great Burgundy.

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Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Sable 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Sable 2023

One of three site-specific wines from Corcelette, this cuvée is drawn from old vines on granitic sand soils (sable means sand). The vines were planted in 1926, so it’s truly a Vieilles Vignes cuvée. It is the sister wine, if you like, to the Cailloux (stony) cuvée. Unsurprisingly, Bouland’s gnarled old trunks have over-delivered again. Raised in an old foudre, it’s a layered, inky, mouthcoating Morgon oozing blood plum and blackcurrant fruit framed by melting tannins, juicy acids and a long, perfumed finish. If it were from the Côte d'Or, you would be well into three figures.

“Lots of colour with this wine. Ooh, now that’s deep and with a superb clarity too. Faintly, these aromas are padded with a small perfume. Ooh – ultra direct, cool, mineral and fluid – what a wine. Ultimate balance for such concentration. Grand vin! So large yet still ersistent in this finish – if you have enough you can try it straight away – but that will be great for 30 years!”
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Sable 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette 2023

This wine is the first of three cuvées focusing on Corcelette’s sandy and granitic soils. This soil generates wines of great perfume and finer, rounder tannins than you find in Morgon’s more schist-influenced terroirs. Bouland separates his so-called ‘younger’ vines in this area (60 years on average, so hardly young!) from his oldest bush vines, which are bottled under the Vieilles Vignes label. Like all Bouland’s wines, this fermented as whole bunches with indigenous yeasts, with the must foot trodden at the end to prolong the fermentation. A fine start to the trio of 2023 Corcelette-labelled cuvées, it’s more red-fruited, savoury and floral than the wines above. Revelling in the depth of the year, there is sheer pleasure in the brightness of the aromatics and the palate and so much refreshment in the smoky, vibrant close. Great focus and drive. There is enough stuffing and powdery tannin to justify cellaring for at least 3-5 years.

“A vibrant and fresh width of florals and darker red fruit. Supple, really panoramic with a cool style to the flavours and real juiciness. What an excellent wine – and so tasty – and you could already drink it if you wish!”
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023

Bouland’s Bellevue soils are split into two cuvées—one for the sand (Sable) and one for the stones (Cailloux). These two parcels are only separated by a small track, yet, as Bouland points out, the soil is completely different. Terroir! Not only does the weathered sandy granite differ from the Cailloux parcel, but the slope is steeper, and the 40- to 50-year-old vines are on a specific low-yielding rootstock called Vialla—a stock well adapted to sandy, granitic or deep argilo-siliceous soils. Tasted side-by-side, the Sable cuvée is the more yielding of the two wines, with a greater width and juicier tannins than the Cailloux bottling. Regardless, the wine retains superb, juicy drive and finishes with superb, pour-me-another-glass intensity.

“Really large scaled aromas with a little pyrazine – to start – but then it’s lost in a large melange of dark fruit aromas and faintly flowers too. Wide over the palate – super texture with a fluidity and modest sweetness – but here is longer than the CdBrouilly – what a gorgeously delicious wine!”
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
"The 2023 Morgon Bellevue Sable displays aromas of baked black cherry pie, violet and a touch of coffee spice, reflecting its southeast-facing, low-yielding vineyard. On the palate, the tight-knit, sandy tannins offer a sturdy structuring, while the fruit and spice tones ascend into an airy upper register. This contrast between the grounded texture and the expansive aromatics underscores the wine'ssophistication."
91 points, Kenna Wells, The Wine Advocate
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Cailloux 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Cailloux 2023

This is our second allocation of Bouland’s Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Cailloux, which is drawn from the domaine’s Corcelette vines rooted in this lieu-dit’s rockier soils. The vines here are only a little younger than the centurion beasts that go in the Sable version of this wine. It’s a terroir that gives a slightly more structured Morgon than the Sable cuvée. To be honest, we have never really had a preference between the two since they were differentiated on the labels starting with the 2019 vintage: both wines are stunning examples of Corcelette.

“A very different nose – wider, more vibrant in style – and with different flowers. This has a stricter structure with a little extra visible tannin – but a finish that seems to grow and grow and grow – ooh that’s hard – I don’t know which finish I prefer!! But as I wine, for next few years I will take the previous and wait a little longer for this – it’s certainly excellent, and maybe it will be great too!”
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Cailloux 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Délys 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Délys 2023

The lieu-dit Les Délys is part of the Corcelette climat located downslope from Bellevue and right behind Bouland’s residence and winery—it’s his back garden, if you like. Again, Bouland splits his vines into two cuvées: an old-vine cuvée raised in foudre and this younger-vine version raised in concrete. The vines were planted in 1978 and 1980 in the deep granitic sand typical of Les Délys, which brings roundness and Burgundy-like texture to the wines. Sweetly ripe yet vivacious, it is one of the more refined of Bouland’s 2023s, while the structure is a smidge firmer than the Corcelette (there’s so much juicy flavour and succulence that you hardly notice). It closes with a pop of dark minerals and crack of red pepper—a nice counterpoint to this wine’s long, grippy finish. Not that we should complain, but the pricing is wildly out of sync with the quality. 

“Lighter colour than most. A broad, energetic nose – a hint of pyrazine in the first aromas again. Supple, mouth-filling wine – tasty – you could even say simpler versus the previous wines – but the burst of finishing flavour is very lovely and has quite some width too – long and deliciously finishing. Yum.”
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
"Aged in epoxy-coated concrete tanks, the 2023 Morgon Les Délys greets the nose with spiced plum and subtle floral aromas. Abundantpowdery tannins provide a centralized grip, establishing a focused core of tension that anchors the wine's structure. Around this core,flavors gracefully unfold, imparting both volume and depth. The wine will profit from a few years in bottle to integrate."
90+ points, Kenna Wells, The Wine Advocate
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Délys 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Cailloux 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Cailloux 2023

Most of Daniel Bouland’s old bush vines are rooted in the Morgon climat of Corcelette, in hilly Haut-Morgon to the northwest of the appellation. Within this area, there are several lieux-dits that Bouland now bottles separately, and Bellevue is one of these. It’s a particularly stony (cailloux means stones) southeast-facing site, with plenty of schist running through the granitic, sandy base soil, much like in Côte du Py. The plethora of rock on the surface traps and radiates warmth, and, as a result, this is typically Bouland’s earliest-ripening site. The vines were planted in three stages in 1937, 1951 and 1967.This cuvée is largely made the same way as the Bellevue Sable wine—natural, whole-bunch ferment and no fining—though the vines are on different rootstocks (420A rootstock in this case, specifically designed for terroirs that are very stony and have no topsoil). Also, the vines are a touch older than in the Sable cuvée below. It’s another deep, inky expression of Morgon with layers of creamy red cherry and blue fruit flecked by blue flowers, graphite and the earthy spice of the vintage. It has more pucker and tightening tannin at this stage than the broader Sable cuvée below.

“A nose of extra, dark-fruited, depth, but less higher perfume energy today – it’s a bit more compact here. But what a width and depth of juicy flavour again – faintly framed with some tannin in this case. Ideally I’d wait 3-5 years for this wine – but what a great wine – but I could drink the ‘Sables’ today.“
Bill Nanson, Burgundy Report
"The 2023 Morgon Bellevue Cailloux presents a bolder, coarser character than the Sable, with deep, dark fruit notes that evoke stewedberries, violet and licorice. On the palate, it offers a rugged structure marked by coarse, large-grained tannins that anchor the wine,keeping it firmly grounded. However, a lush layer of fruit blankets the tannins, adding a velvety cushioning."
90+ points, Kenna Wells, The Wine Advocate
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Cailloux 2023
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AT-A-GLANCE

• Daniel Bouland is a fourth-generation vigneron based in the heart of the Corcelette hamlet in Morgon, Beaujolais.

• The estate spans approximately eight hectares of vines, mainly in Morgon, with small holdings in Brouilly and Chiroubles.

• Bouland alone does most of the vineyard and cellar work, now assisted by his daughter Mélanie.

• The bush vines across the plots have significant age, with 40 years considered young and the Vieilles Vignes material approaching 100 years old.

• Vinification is semi-carbonic, and the wines mature in large, neutral barrels.

• The range includes a collection of Cru wines from Morgon, several of which are bottled according to soil type—Sable (sand) and Cailloux (stone)—and many of which are Vieilles Vignes.

• There are also Cru wines from Chiroubles and Brouilly, and most of the wines are available in large formats.



IN THE PRESS

“This estate is one of my personal reference points for the Beaujolais. Concentrated and succulent, Bouland's wines are beautifully differentiated by site and age gracefully…” William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“This tiny wine grower of the hamlet of Corcelette… has seduced us for a few years now with his concentrated and textured Morgons. The fruit weight in no way masks the almost wild minerality of the soil. These wines have an intensity that can only come from old vines that are impeccably cultivated… We do not hesitate to say that you will find here the best value for money in red wine [in this guide].” La Revue du Vins de France

“The wines are made traditionally, with whole bunch-fermentations, native yeasts and aging in neutral oak casks before bottling without filtration. Bouland has a rabid following in France and overseas so his wines are never easy to track down.” Josh Reynolds, Vinous

Country

France

Primary Region

Beaujolais

People

Winemaker: Daniel Bouland

Availability

National

Most Recent Offer

  • Daniel Bouland 2023
    Daniel Bouland 2023
    Daniel Bouland is renowned for creating deep yet superbly balanced wines even in these ...
    Daniel Bouland is renowned for creating deep yet superbly balanced wines even in these warmer, drier years—and this new release is a splendid examp...

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