01438 741177
https://www.thewinesociety.com/in-bond/en-primeur-chateau-des-jacques-2022/buy
Mostly Moulin-a-vent, just one Morgon (which would be my choice) - ranging from 13.5% to 14%, all cases £120 (6 x standard or 3 x mags).
Thoughts?
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The mixed case looks appealing.
Doesn’t seem like amazing value through, unless that’s a sign of the times for ‘new’ wine.
As such, I’d be tempted to backfill with older vintages, which will also be closer to the age you need to drink more serious beaujolais (imo anyway) to really see them at their best.
I have gone for six of the Clos de Rochegrès - while the mixed case is appealing, what’s also appealing for me is the chance to see how wines like this evolve, and I still have five Morgon Côte du Py 2018s, so went for something different. Higher altitude seemed like a good idea in a hot vintage.
The Morgons cost £100 IB in 2019, so the price rise is probably in line with expectation. Nothing like what seems to going on in Bordeaux! (which I am staying well away from!)
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I was very disappointed by the couple I’ve tasted - couldn’t help wondering if the reputation was made when there was a lot less exciting beaujolais… nowhere near the calibre of Foillard, Lapierre, Lapalu, Metras etc (or even Burgaud on the WS list)
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It was £100/6 two years ago. Such is inflation…
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I appreciate that tastes differ, and have the greatest respect for Tim Sykes. However Ch.d.J ‘made in a traditional (Burgundy) style’ puts me off, especially from a hot year with a risk of over-ripe jamminess.
Might instead have bought (from the standard list) this mixed case, was £154 and ‘new’ this morning, yet already o.o.s. !
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/beaujolas-cru-mixed-dozen-6e887bdb
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Tempted by the Clos du Grand Carquelin, but instead will pay off my (burgeoning) In Bond reserves bill before the end of this month.
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That case looks like great fun.
As an aside, the Piron Grand Cras Morgon highlights the conservatism of TWS drinking dates. It’s a 2020 ‘with the structure to age’ but had a window only to 2025.
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I bought the 2018 equivalent and haven’t been very impressed. Don’t taste like Gamay to me.
Agree with this. They can be good, but often disappoint in my experience. But fundamentally they raise the question “Do you want your Bojo to taste more like Burgundy?” I guess if you do they’re a good choice.
Sadly TWS doesn’t stock any of the best bojo producers. I think it’s actually a policy 
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Dunno about that, Aujoux are pretty good & the Exhibition 'cru’s are very good indeed especially considering the price tag.
I guess one problem is that the best producers command the best prices - Julien Sunier Morgon for instance is £30 and TWS customer’s might balk at that ?
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Some interesting wines here:
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“Especially considering the price tag” 
Yes, quite possibly.
In any case, Beaujolais is a region where I haven’t bought the Society wines for years, and take it for granted that I have to source elsewhere. And yes, I do think it is a buyer policy - Tim obviously just doesn’t like the style of what for me I’d say is unquestionably the best stuff (Foillard, Metras, Lapierre, Breton, Lapalu etc), or the up-and-coming now possibly just as good (Sunier, Dubois and quite a few others). There just isn’t much on the TWS list that hits the spot for me, though there are a few wines at the lower end (Brun, the Cote de Besset St Amour bottling, and that Bin Chiroubles, which was lovely).
While the big names above are certainly going over 30 quid now, sadly, it’s still quite possible to get some of the slightly lesser known names for not much over 20. As such they offer value, for me at least, as you are getting a level of delicacy that would cost at least three times that a bit further north.
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Add to which the fact the TWS has never sold Beaujolais nouveaux.
Which raises an interesting point - the buyer should source what the customers like, not what they like.
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Sadly I have to agree with @suiko here. I think TWS have a pretty poor showing when it comes to Beaujolais with the exception of Burgaud and a couple of others. It does feel as though they’re scared of breaking the £20 price mark even though once you do there are some seriously exceptional wines. At the moment it also feels as though the wine has to be “made in the Burgundy style” (read: overripe with misplaced oak) for them to splash out on…just let Beaujolais be Beaujolais.
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Hit the nail on the head. The last thing I care about with Beaujolais is the colour, yet the darkness of the wine seems to be mentioned an awful lot…
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I guess in many cases the customer doesn’t know what they like cos they never got the chance to try it
A commercial decision? These very natural style wines are pretty marmite. I’d imagine that you’d get as many people invoking the promise as not?
Also they are small production/high demand and probably not easy to get hold of in society level quantities, especially without a long term relationship.
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Yeah I think both of these are probably a factor but at the same time buyers like Freddie are throwing lots of these wines onto the Austrian and Australian lists but communicating very well what they are and how they might differ from other wines people are used to from these regions. I guess if it’s communicated very clearly then you can hardly buy it and have a problem when it’s as described.
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Without wanting to typecast, I’d imagine there are more people with expectation around Beaujolais is/should be than there are around Austria/Australia. Fruit forward, slightly floral quaffers rather than much more savoury, “serious” natural wines.
I do think there are some good beaujolais available through the society (the bin series one, Piron, and I enjoyed Artisans Chenas recently at £13 a bottle), and not just over-oaked, extracted “burgundian” ones or fruit forward quaffers, but I do tend to buy mine elsewhere.
Back to this offer and I am more likely to buy a case of the 2018 Clos de Rochegres magnums that are currently on the list.
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