Heart of Beaujolais

Southern crus and communes from Lancié to Tarare
By Michael Edwards

This Guide was last updated on 26 April 2011
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Wine producers to visit

Domaine Marcel and Mathieu Lapierre

Address: Domaine des Chênes, 69910 Villié-Morgon
Tel: 04 74 04 23 89  Fax: 04 74 69 14 40
Email: informations@marcel-lapierre.com
Web: www.marcel-lapierre.com
Geo-coordinates:  Latitude: 46:9:37N (46.16034)    Longitude: 4:40:52E (4.68119) 

The ‘father’ of the region’s return to classic winemaking traditions and mentor to the best young growers, Marcel Lapierre is something of a legend; his wine tastes like wine, light years away from the facile tutti-frutti style of much technological Beaujolais. Marcel’s vineyards lie below the village of Villié-Morgon, though he also has a hectare on the Côte de Py. He applies rigorous standards from the vine to the glass. Over 90% of the vines, now on average 40 years old, have been organically cultivated since 1981 though they are only now applying for certification. For the last five years, one vineyard has been worked by biodynamic viticulture. Whole grape bunches are first fermented in medium-sized wooden vats, only indigenous yeasts are used, with no chaptalisation - not a gram of added sugar goes into the must. Towards the end of the fermentation (about 15 days) the infant wine is transferred to small barrels, where it spends another six months before bottling. The 2005 is a real keeper, the 2006 has beautiful winey fruit, a Lapierre signature and the 2008 looks promising.