Grégoire Hoppenot, Morgon “Corcelette”

Although the wines of Grégoire Hoppenot are new to the US, his reputation precedes him: Before he returned to his Beaujolais birthplace and set up shop in Fleurie—right across the road from one of my all-time favorites, Clos de la Roilette—Grégoire was already a star in the cellars of M. Chapoutier in the Rhône.When it came to the raw material for his Cru Beaujolais wines, he assembled a small but enviable collection of vineyard parcels, including acclaimed sites in Fleurie and some treasured old vines in Morgon’s “Corcelette,” perhaps the most iconic Beaujolais cru of them all (thanks to local legend Jean Foillard, among others). Hoppenot’s Morgon and Fleurie alike have been drooled over by the French wine press and trade, prompting a pitched battle among American importers to see who’d get the chance to bring them here. And, now that they’ve arrived, we’re thrilled to get one of the first cracks at Hoppenot’s 2018 “Corcelette.” This coupling of producer and vineyard was truly meant t