2025 Marcel Lapierre, Morgon Vieilles Vignes

About this wine

Marcel Lapierre followed the chemist Jules Chauvet back to the roots of Beaujolais in the 1980s, and the Morgon that came out of it changed French wine. His children carry it on the same way: old Gamay vines on the granite and schist of Villié-Morgon, organic farming, hand harvest into small crates, whole clusters in a long, cool semi-carbonic maceration with indigenous yeasts, élevage in old foudres and a bottling with little or no sulfur. 2025 is the newest release.

Expect cherry, raspberry and violet, a peppery, mineral edge, a juicy, silky palate and a long, clean finish that asks for another glass. Serve cool with charcuterie, a roast chicken, a bistro steak or nothing at all. Drink now to 2030, and it will surprise you at ten years.

About Marcel Lapierre

Marcel Lapierre was the father of natural Beaujolais. Following the chemist Jules Chauvet, he returned Morgon to its roots in the 1980s: organic farming, old vines, hand harvest, whole-cluster semi-carbonic maceration with native yeasts, no additives and little or no sulfur. His wines showed that natural Gamay could be pure, deep and ageworthy, and his cellar became the school of the Gang of Four and of a generation of vignerons across France. Since his death in 2010 his children Mathieu and Camille have carried on the estate in Villié-Morgon with the same rigour and the same joy.