Maison l’Envoyé, Morgon AOP (Beaujolais, France) 2016

 If your idea of Beaujolais is cheerful and simple, but you prefer intense, structured red wines, consider Morgon, one of the ten crus of Beaujolais.  Within the Morgon cru, the Côte du Py (pronounced, “coat deh pea”), area produces some of the most intense and powerful wines.  This wine from Maison l’Envoyé is a great example with its generous blackberry, raspberry fruit entangled with dusty mineral notes.  While the fruit is intense, it is animated with decisive acidity and supported by burnished tannins.  It is still quite young and should continue to please for several years.  Maison l’Envoyé is a collaboration between Rob Buono and Gavin Speight, founders of Old Bridge Cellars, a US fine-wine importer, and Mark Tarlov, whose multifaceted career includes movie director and producer, speechwriter for a Supreme Court Chief Justice and founder of Evening Land Vineyards.  Together they are on a quest to identify and promote underappreciated, terroir-driven growers of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gamay Noir from Burgundy, Willamette Valley, Central Otago and Tasmania.