Grégoire Hoppenot, Fleurie “Les Moriers”

Cru Beaujolais is one of a handful of wines I’d consider essential to SommSelect’s identity as a company. It’s not merely that the wines of Fleurie, Morgon, and the other eight cru villages of Southern Burgundy are “hot” commodities: it’s that they are such convincing, complete wines that also happen to be affordable. Exhibit A to kick off 2022 is Grégoire Hoppenot, who packs everything a serious Burgundy lover could want into a $35 bottle—a complex, cellar-worthy red from a single vineyard, farmed organically and vinified with the deftest of touches. Hoppenot was named La Revue du Vin de France’s “Discovery of the Year” in 2021, and he’s right atop the SommSelect rankings as well—so it was a no-brainer when it came time to pick a Cru Beaujolais to lead off 2022.“Les Moriers” is one of Fleurie’s most prestigious, high-elevation vineyards, and Hoppenot’s expression reminds us that it’s not a big leap to go from Pinot Noir from the limestone-heavy Côte d’Or to Gamay from the granitic soi