2008 Foillard Morgon Cuvee Courcelette and Morgon Cote de Py - Ugh . . . .

Foillard, when the wines are on, there is nothing better in Morgon, even surpassing Lapierre, but unfortunately they are not on too often. I have finally taken a position on 2008 Beaujolais and my position is the vintage is really not great. Most of the wines have grit, high acid, are lighter than usual and lack freshness. Also many are unbalanced. There are exceptions like the Coquelet (Descombes son) Chiroubles VV, but they are very few and far between. Back to Foillard. The '07 CDP was brilliant and sang from day one and was spoken about in hushed tones by the geek audience, but the '08 CDP, which I have had twice, has been terrible each time. Thin, acidic, out of balance, hot, shrill, almost dead on the palate, and with around 15 extra helpings of brett. Brett is expected in good vintages of Foillard as a component that can add complexity, but more often than not, it takes over some Foillard wines. Minimal sulfur seems to be the culprit. The '05 showed lots of brett and I only had one good bottle, in France, out of 5 or 6. The 2008 Foillard Morgon Cuvee Courcelette is from sandy soils and usually is more accessible than the CDP. It's a bit more pricey than the Morgon CDP, and for that I have yet to understand why, as the CDP is a better wine. The '08, brought over by a friend last night was better than the CDP, but still was a lackluster effort. Showed an interesting nose of mineral, tweed, light cherry tones but seemed dull. The palate was pretty balanced but had a distinct lack of freshness. Everything just seemed to be on mute. The acidity was ok, but it tasted like boring, run of the mill industrial yeasted cheap Beaujolais. As my friend said, if I am paying $35 for a Beaujolais, I expect it to not only be good, but considering how most Beaujolais is priced, it should be a reference point wine. It was not. It just left me puzzled. Yes it is [i]vin natural[/i], so I expect some funkiness and bottle variation, but my experience with Foillard is more wildly inconsistent than even Lapierre, and when Foillard wines are off, I am more dissapointed than normal because the highs they attain (1999 CDP and one bottle of 2005 CDP), can be higher than Lapierre, and on par with a great Thevenet, which is even rarer than a great Foillard. I'll have a little more tonight to see if it improved, but I know it will have not as for the swan to appear there has to be a hint of swan to start with and not all ugly duckling.