Marcel Lapierre, Morgon 2022

Description

About the Producer

Marcel Lapierre is a wine producer based in the village of Morgon in Beaujolais, making wines from Gamay grapes in a natural style, with no added sulfur. Michel Lapierre arrived in Morgon in the early 1900s and began work as a cellar master for various domaines in the region. His son Camille began to sell wines in barrel around the region and, after initial success, began to acquire vineyard land in Morgon. Camille's son, Marcel, took over in 1973 and began to explore the idea of making wines with the least amount of intervention with the help of Jules Chauvet, a chemist, researcher and viticulturalist. Chauvet, who Lapierre met in the early 1980s, is often regarded as one the fathers of the natural wine movement in France. Lapierre wines are made with a combination of modern innovation and age-old techniques. There is no sulfur added to the wines at all, the yeasts used are all wild and the vineyards are managed biodynamically. The grapes are harvested at the peak of ripeness, even if this means harvesting plot by plot or bunch by bunch, and the wines then typically spend between two and nine months in oak before release. The domaine has vineyards in Morgon and atop of the Côte du Py with its famous volcanic soils and expressive terroir. Lapierre's Morgon Cru wine is made from vines that are, on average, 70 years old, and is aged in oak for nine months and bottled without fining or filtration. There are range of wines made under the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages AOCs, as well as the entry-level Raisins Gauloises Vin de France. Cuvée Marcel Lapierre is only made in the best years and generally comes from two parcels of old vines on the Côte du Py. Cuvée Camille is a nod to both Marcel's daughter (and father) – it comes from a single hectare (2.5 acre), southwest facing section on the Côte du Py. A Chilean wine, Pais de Quenehuao, is also made under guidance from the Lapierres by local natural winemaker (of Burgundian extraction), Louis Antoine Luyt. It comes from a one-hectare, unirrigated vineyard of Pais on granite subsoil in the Maule Valley region identified by Marcel and wife Marie in 2008. Although the wines are made and undergo elevage without sulfur, much of the range curently receives sulfur additions prior to bottling. Marcel Lapierre, alongside Guy Breton, Jean Foillard and Jean-Paul Thévenet are dubbed Beaujolais' "Gang of Four" natural winemakers, producing wines to critical acclaim. The domaine is currently run by Marcel's son and daughter, Mathieu and Camille. Marcel Lapierre died in 2010.