Domaine Lapierre - Le Beaujolais 2023

In the northern hills of Beaujolais lies the pastoral Villie-Morgan, one of the ten cru villages permitted to print its name on the bottle, and also considered home of one of the best wines in Beaujolais. An hour from Lyon, the second largest city in France, Villie-Morgan is a century away in atmosphere. It is also home to a group of groundbreaking and sometimes controversial winemakers.

Marcel Lapierre, strives to make wines as naturally as possible, in the vineyard and in the winery. Lapierre's vines average 40 years of age, and his grapes are always picked at the latest possible moment in order to obtain the ripest possible fruit. No pesticides or chemicals are used in the vineyards and no sulfur or yeast is added during fermentation. The resulting wines are pure and fruity, not overly alcoholic, and always a pleasure to drink.

100% Gamay sourced from three parcels that are just across the village line of Morgon in Lancié, a neighboring commune of Villié Morgon. Semi-carbonic maceration without SO2, for 10-21 days, and spends 6 months in “cuve”. Unlike with the entry-level Raisins Gaulois cuvée, this wine is bottled in the spring instead of winter. It is the mid-way cuvée between “Raisins Gaulois” and Morgon.

Kermit Lynch Notes: "LeBeaujolais” is a selection of declassified Morgon along with fruit from granitic parcels just outside the cru boundaries. Like the domaine’s legendary Morgon, it is whole-cluster fermented with native yeasts and bottled unfiltered with very little sulfur. While it represents a more easygoing and immediate expression of Gamay meant for earlier drinking, do not mistake it for a petit vin of little consequence: it has easily enough depth and class to fool you into thinking you are drinking a much fancier and more expensive cru Beaujolais. A sort of mini-Morgon, “Le Beaujolais” is sweetly perfumed of ripe cherries and turned earth, backed by a vibrant freshness and silky, caressing tannins. Best of all, it exhibits the pleasure factor we expect from every bottle bearing the Lapierre label.

Producer: Domaine Lapierre

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Gamay

Appellation: Beaujolais

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml