Area:
Beaujolais has long been misunderstood. The root cause was the introduction of Beaujolais Nouveau in the 1950s, which has been both a blessing and a curse for the region as a whole.
In recent years, however, there has been a quality revolution in Beaujolais, with the 10 “Cru” villages at the forefront.
Because of the shear diversity of its terroir, the Beaujolais cru of Morgon is among the best places to start discovering the delights of the region.
Producer:
Marcel Lapierre can reasonably be considered to be the godfather of ‘serious’ Beaujolais, as he spearheaded the famous Gang of Four, alongside Guy Breton, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Jean Foillard, who forever changed the landscape of the region, both physically and metaphorically, with their focus on preserving and nurturing old vines, eschewing herbicides and pesticides, harvesting late, adding minimal sulphur and avoiding chaptalisation. Sadly, Marcel passed away in 2010, but his son, Mathieu, and daughter, Camille have continued his legacy.
Together they work 13 hectares of vines and produce naturally made Gamay in and around Morgon. Aiming to express the terroir as fully as possible, these wines are made with limited intervention - low sulphur, organic viticulture since 1980 and natural fermentation. Harvest always takes place by hand. The grapes undergo semi-carbonic maceration, which is in keeping with the Beaujolais style. The soil is acidic granite which is poor in minerals, making the grapes work hard. Their wines are something of an oxymoron, as they are at once extremely good fun, bright, approachable and picnic-perfect; but also a real expression of terroir and serious winemaking.