George Descombes Regnie, 2020

Georges Descombes, not to be confused with Jean Descombes, a grower who sells his entire production to Georges Duboeuf. is a totally separate estate which Georges took over in 1988 with a ½ hectare from his father. Georges currently has between 15 and 16 hectares of vineyards spread across a variety of cru: 3.5 hectares of Brouilly (on some of the steepest slopes in Beaujolais), 7.5 hectares of Morgon, 2 hectares of Regnié, 0.5 hectare of Chiroubles, 2 hectares of Beaujolais Villages and 1.5 hectare of generic Beaujolais.

Descombes vinifies with an extreme cold carbonic maceration that takes up to 30 days. The wine is raised in relatively new barrels without using sulphur, except at bottling time, a style of wine which Descombes prefers drinking. Descombes tasted with Marcel Lapierre when he first started out and found Lapierre’s Morgons a model of lushness, purity and pleasure – he decided on the spot to work in a similar style.

What is different at Descombes is the lengthy aging of the wines. The wines often go through a year of raising and are then held back in bottle. Descombes has only recently released the 2010 Morgon, since he feels that working without sulphur and filtration requires extra élevage to guarantee that the wines are not only delicious but also stable.