Foillard's Fleurie

A truly lovely Fleurie from Jean Foillard last night, the essence of what you - or at least I - want from Beaujolais. As well it might be. I bought it in a fit of extravagance from The Sampler in London when I was ordering some Dard et Ribo's (also painfully expensive) and now see it was £29. Still, what I tell myself in these moments of self-flagellation is that if I'd seen it on a wine list at £29 I'd have jumped at it. So that's fine then, isn't it?

It was also one of the rare wines that lives up to its name. It was floral (particularly violetty) but not merely pretty. There was a lovely suppleness and purity about it - the kind of wine where every sip is a thrill. Food (although we had some excellent pork belly with it) seemed an irrelevance.

Foillard of course is the other big name in Beaujolais, the other being the late, great Marcel Lapierre who apparently inspired him as he did so many young vignerons. There's a detailed account of how he works on Bert Celce's excellent Wine Terroirs blog here. His wines are made with a minimum of sulphur and with no fining or filtration.

They also, I discover, have a B & B. Now that is tempting.