Château de Pizay La Centenaire Morgon 2022

Château de Pizay’s 2022 La Centenaire Morgon – from Gamay vines over 100 years of age – is a truly full-bodied Beaujolais. It is deep in color, dense, and stacked with red and black fruits layered over an iron core. Although still in its infancy, it opens with a heady aroma; yet, it is in the mouth that the wine begins to show its true power and promise. Cherry, blood orange, blueberry, and strawberry flavors infused with crushed minerals and a hint of wood smoke emerge to tantalize the palate. Fresh and vinous from ripe tannins and juicy acidity, the racy 2022 Château de Pizay La Centenaire then exits with a mouthwatering flourish. Although delightful to drink now, this exceptional Morgon still has several years of development ahead of it, as the wines of Morgon are traditionally some of the longest-lived Beaujolais wines. In an ideal world, one has a bottle of the 2022 Château de Pizay La Centenaire Morgon on the table and several additional bottles in the cellar. For optimal enjoyment we suggest serving the 2022 Château de Pizay La Centenaire Morgon cool (55º-60º F) after 15-20 minutes of aeration. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2028. Salut!

The 2022 Château de Pizay La Centenaire Morgon merits a place at the table among the most discerning of diners. Traditional Burgundian cooking and a host of savory dishes from around the world provide ideal accompaniments to Château de Pizay’s exceptional old vine La Centenaire Morgon. Beef, ham, and pork provide excellent accompaniments, especially when La Centenaire is young and exhibiting its youthful ardor. Turkey, chicken, and light game such as Cornish hens, quail, and squab also provide superb partners. Coq au Vin, a Burgundian classic, is certainly one of the region’s signature dishes and a delightful companion to this wine. Yet what may come as a surprise is how well grilled or poached salmon pairs with a perfectly mature La Centenaire Morgon. Fine cheeses such as Munster, Raclette, Fontina, and Port Salut provide additional opportunities to enjoy Château de Pizay’s 2022 La Centenaire Morgon. Bon Appétit!

The majestic Château de Pizay is one of the oldest and most illustrious estates of Beaujolais. It comprises 180 acres of vines from Regnie and Morgon, two of the ten great cru villages of Beaujolais. The oldest records regarding this eminent property date to 1030, and since the 14th century the imposing keep of Château de Pizay has stood atop the foothills of the Beaujolais Mountains of southern Burgundy. For centuries its wines have been admired by legions of connoisseurs and beloved by wine drinkers from far and wide.

Under the dedicated tutelage of Pascal Dufaitre, the estate’s director, winemaking at Château de Pizay combines tradition with the use of stainless steel, semi carbonic fermentation (a traditional form of whole berry fermentation) and modern temperature control methods to ensure preservation of the fruit and freshness in the wines. And, indeed, the hallmarks of Château de Pizay’s splendid offerings are pure fruit flavors, elegance, freshness, and a depth of flavor rarely seen in most other Beaujolais wines. The estate’s most illustrious offering and this month’s feature, La Centenaire Morgon, emanates from vines more than 100 years of age planted in 1915 during the First World War by the women of Pizay. Although Morgon and Regnie crus are the estate’s top offerings, Château de Pizay also produces a delicious Beaujolais Blanc and Beaujolais, all of which are bottled in distinctive Pizay bottles.

Today, Château de Pizay is not only one of Beaujolais’s premier wine estates; it is also a luxury hotel with a fine restaurant where guests are able to visit the magnificent old cellars that have hosted many famous banquets. The château and grounds are beautifully maintained, including classic formal 18th century gardens with sculpted hedges.

Beaujolais is situated in the extreme south of Burgundy. It is a vast region of nearly two hundred villages and communes, which are spread out on varying subsoil and individual terroir. Unofficially, Beaujolais forms the dividing line between northern and southern France. Straddling the un-specified equivalent of the American Mason-Dixon Line, the wines of Beaujolais flow in copious quantities north to Paris and south to Lyon and beyond.

In spite of inherent variations in quality, which reflect the differences in soil composition, altitude, and level of production among the region’s thousands of growers, one common denominator comes to fore in Beaujolais – the Gamay grape. Gamay provides the defining character and flavor of Beaujolais, and nowhere is this more the case than in the ten cru villages of Beaujolais. Although wines bearing a Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages AOC can provide very pleasant drinking, the ten cru villages comprise the heart of Beaujolais and offer the consumer the finest Gamay wines in the world. In addition, each of these ten townships possesses a special terroir and individual set of characteristics that make for memorable drinking. These ten cru villages of Beaujolais are Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Chiroubles, St. Amour, Fleurie, Regnie, Chenas, Morgon, Julienas, and Moulin-à-Vent. Morgon, Julienas, and Moulin-à-Vent are widely acknowledged to be the finest, fullest and most Burgundy-like of the wines of Beaujolais, and they enjoy an enviable reputation for ageing up to five years or more in bottle with excellent results.