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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 Délys Vignes de 1926 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Délys Vignes de 1926 2023

This wine used to come to us simply as Morgon Vieilles Vignes without the name of the vineyard or lieu-dit (it is now labelled Morgon Les Délys Vignes plantées en 1926). It comes from a single hectare of 100-year-old vines located on the Morgon-Chiroubles border at the end of the Corcelette valley—a terroir historically known as Délys. The old, gnarled vines sit on a southeast-facing slope, planted at 10,000 vines per hectare. Humming like an idling V8 engine, it’s always deep and chewy when young—built for long aging in the cellar. The 2023 is saturated with blue and wild berry fruits underscored by cracked pepper and cardamom spice, liquorice root and forest floor complexity. The palate is infused with unstoppable velvety fruitiness and length of flavour rare for the region. Bouland admits that if he could find the grafting materials he needs, he would start to replant this ancient parcel—it yields too little juice for his liking. Just as well he can’t: this is one of the greatest single-vineyard wines in all of Beaujolais.

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Délys Vignes de 1926 2023
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.

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette Vieilles Vignes Sable 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Mélanie 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Mélanie 2023

Named after Daniel Bouland’s daughter, Cuvée Mélanie is drawn from a small, steep, half-hectare plot on the slopes of Mont Brouilly. The 70-year-old vines are rooted on the area’s famous terres bleu (blue-tinted volcanic soils) within the lieu-dit of Tête Noire, directly above Château Thivin. The blue schist lends the wines of this Cru their unique mineral profile. Bouland’s 0.8-hectare parcel is planted at 12,000 vines per hectare. As with all of Bouland’s cuvées, this is a wine born of low yields and natural, whole-bunch fermentation.As you would expect from this terroir, it’s more baritone than Chiroubles, sporting darker, plusher fruit and deeper spice notes. The ’23 has lovely deep aromatics leading to a fleshy palate crammed with dark berries and Christmas spice. No lack of testosterone this year, though its structural chassis does its job well. Une bombe! 

Domaine Daniel Bouland Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Mélanie 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Pré Jourdan 2022 (1500ml)

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Pré Jourdan 2022 (1500ml)

This is our second allocation from Bouland’s recently acquired parcel in the lieu-dit called Pré Jourdan, which sits on the Morgon-Fleurie border. Bouland now farms a tiny parcel of 70-year-old vines, just enough to fill a single large cask (a youngish Rousseau foudre in this case). The soils here are predominantly granitic sand—although they run deeper than in Bellevue and Corcelette—providing Bouland with a fleshier and very aromatic Morgon to add to the range. Expect waves of succulent strawberry and cherry-scented fruit carried by a slick of silky fine tannins and a gorgeous and long cherry pie-perfumed finish.

One plot, lower down on the edge of Villié-Morgon, towards Fleurie. A deeper sand than Corcelette. A meaty magenta colour. More weight on the nose, immediately apparent. Maintains the crunch but adds the meat, with a little iron rich. Still quite backward but may not need too long. Foudre from Rousseau, quite young.”
91 points, Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Pré Jourdan 2022 (1500ml)
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.

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Corcelette 2023
Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023

As mentioned, 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.

Domaine Daniel Bouland Morgon Bellevue Sable 2023
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“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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