Navigating Beaujolais

To help you navigate this extensive release, we have compiled a brief, factual guide to the producers and terroirs featured in today’s offer. Below, you will find an overview of their locations, soil types, farming and winemaking practices, as well as context for the specific cuvées being offered. A deeper understanding of these estates highlights exactly why Cru Beaujolais remains one of the greatest values in the fine wine world.

M. et C. Lapierre
Located in Villié-Morgon, the Lapierre family farms 11 hectares predominantly on decomposed granite soils. The late Marcel Lapierre, mentored by Jules Chauvet, championed the return to natural winemaking in the region: old vines, organic farming, late harvesting, and semi-carbonic maceration with natural yeasts and little to no sulfur. Today, Mathieu and Camille Lapierre continue this legacy. The Cuvée Marcel Lapierre is sourced from the estate's oldest vines, while the Cuvée Camille—named for both Marcel’s father and his daughter—comes from a 1-hectare parcel of shallow soils on the famed Côte du Py, and is aged slightly longer in wooden vats for added depth.

Jean Foillard
Jean Foillard’s estate sits firmly on the famed Côte du Py slope in Morgon, renowned for its crumbly schist and granite soils rich in iron and manganese. Following the same Chauvet-inspired ethos of minimal intervention, Foillard ferments whole clusters at low temperatures for several weeks before aging the wines in old Burgundian barrels. His Côte du Py is the benchmark for the cru, yielding a structured, deeply mineral wine. The Corcelette cuvée, grown on sandstone, offers a more perfumed and delicate profile, while Eponym’ comes from the Charmes lieu-dit, known for its high-toned aromatics and elegance.

Guy Breton
Known affectionately as "Petit Max," Guy Breton farms mostly high-altitude parcels in Villié-Morgon. His soils are classic Morgon granite, but his higher elevation yields wines with lower alcohol and striking acidity. Breton destems slightly more than his "Gang of Four" peers and utilizes traditional carbonic maceration, seeking maximum freshness and drinkability over sheer power. His Morgon Vieilles Vignes is sourced from vines upwards of 80 years old, delivering depth while retaining his signature ethereal charm.

Jean-Paul Thevenet
With only five hectares of vines in Morgon, Jean-Paul Thevenet operates one of the smallest and most meticulously farmed estates among the original pioneers. Farming organically on granite and sandy soils, Thevenet harvests as late as possible. He utilizes traditional whole-cluster carbonic maceration and ages his wines in old oak barrels previously used by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The Morgon Vieilles Vignes, often sourced from vines over 70 years old, is a dense, deeply savory, and structured wine that requires time in the cellar to fully unwind.

Georges Descombes
Based in the hamlet of Vermont, Georges Descombes farms vines across Morgon and Brouilly. Heavily influenced by Marcel Lapierre to shift toward organic farming, Descombes employs a very slow, cold semi-carbonic maceration, pressing gently with an old wooden basket press before aging the wines in a mix of old barrels and cement. His Morgon is renowned for its approachability and pure fruit expression, balancing immediate charm with an underlying spine that allows it to age beautifully.

Coudert (Clos de la Roilette)
Located in Fleurie directly on the border of Moulin-à-Vent, Alain Coudert’s Clos de la Roilette possesses a unique terroir of heavy clay and manganese, rather than Fleurie's typical pink granite. This soil yields deeply colored, powerful wines more reminiscent of Moulin-à-Vent. The estate uses traditional semi-carbonic maceration with a submerged cap in open-top cement tanks. The Cuvée Tardive is sourced from 80-plus-year-old vines and is specifically built for long-term cellaring. La Griffe du Marquis utilizes the same old-vine fruit but is aged in old Burgundian barrels, adding textural richness and savory spice.

Daniel Bouland
Daniel Bouland is a traditionalist master based in the Corcelette hamlet of Morgon. He farms old, low-yielding bush vines planted on steep slopes of schist, sand, and granite. Bouland ferments using traditional whole-cluster macerations and ages his wines in concrete and large neutral oak foudres. His Morgon Delys, from vines planted in 1926, and Corcelette Vieilles Vignes are famously backward and heavily structured in their youth, demanding bottle age to shed their formidable tannins and reveal a profoundly concentrated, terroir-driven core.

Jules Metras
The son of legendary natural winemaker Yvon Metras, Jules Metras launched his own project in 2014 after acquiring vines in Chiroubles and Beaujolais-Villages. Working organically on steep granite soils, Jules employs the exact same painstakingly slow, cold semi-carbonic macerations without any sulfur additions as his father. His Chiroubles is highly sought after for its soaring floral aromatics and absolute weightlessness, representing the extreme, ethereal end of the natural Beaujolais spectrum.

Julie Balagny
The late Julie Balagny farmed isolated, incredibly steep, organic vineyards in Fleurie with soils composed of quartz, granite, and basalt. Her ultra-low-intervention approach involved cold carbonic maceration in concrete, no pump-overs, and an extraordinarily gentle, hours-long pressing via an antique manual press. Her Minouche VdF is a delicate and highly allocated bottling that vividly captures her hallmark style: wildly aromatic, fragile, and emotionally resonant.

Yann Bertrand
Yann Bertrand farms vines primarily in Fleurie and Morgon, focusing heavily on biodynamic principles. His soils range from sandy granite in Fleurie to decomposed schist in Morgon. Bertrand favors long, cool carbonic macerations, seeking to capture the most pristine, unextracted expression of Gamay possible. The resulting wines are incredibly pure, precise, and transparent, with a cult following among sommeliers for their high-toned aromatics and silky, unforced textures.

Jean-Paul & Charly Thevenet
Charly Thevenet has joined his father, Jean-Paul, fully integrating the next generation into this legendary estate. Together, they farm their ancient Morgon and Régnié parcels organically and biodynamically. The winemaking remains steadfastly traditional and low-intervention, utilizing native yeasts, whole-cluster fermentations, and old Burgundy barrels. The resulting Morgon Vieilles Vignes bridges the gap between old-school structure and new-wave purity, delivering a wine of immense depth and longevity.

Anthony Thevenet
After cutting his teeth working alongside Marcel Lapierre and Jean Foillard, Anthony Thevenet established his own domaine in 2013. Based in Morgon, he farms old vines organically, including the prized Cuvée Julia, which is sourced from a parcel on the Côte du Py planted in 1932. He ferments whole-cluster in concrete and ages in old barrels with minimal sulfur. His style effortlessly marries the structure of the Côte du Py with a lifted, ethereal elegance.

Domaine Anita (Anita Kuhnel)
Anita Kuhnel focuses on site-specific, single-vineyard expressions across Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon, and Fleurie. Her farming emphasizes high-density planting and meticulous canopy management on granitic and manganese-rich soils. In the cellar, she tailors her maceration times and whole-cluster percentages to each specific vintage and terroir, aiming for polish, concentration, and site transparency. The Fleurie Poncié is sourced from a high-altitude, steep granitic slope, yielding a highly perfumed, elegant, and refined expression of the cru.

Domaine de la Grand Cour (Jean-Louis Dutraive)
Jean-Louis Dutraive is one of the grandfathers of the Beaujolais natural wine movement and a master of biodynamic farming. His Fleurie vineyards, including the famed Clos de la Grand Cour monopole and Chapelle des Bois, are rooted in classic pink granite. Dutraive employs whole-cluster carbonic maceration with native yeasts and zero sulfur until bottling. His wines are instantly recognizable for their soaring aromatics, bright red fruit, and an utterly joyful energy that does not sacrifice complexity.

Jean-Claude Lapalu
Jean-Claude Lapalu farms his family’s old vines in Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly according to biodynamic principles. Working on granite and volcanic soils, Lapalu focuses on extremely low yields and late harvesting. He experiments with various fermentation vessels and uses little to no sulfur during vinification. The Croix des Rameaux Brouilly is sourced from old vines on a steep slope, offering a serious, muscular, and densely packed expression of a cru normally known for light, early-drinking wines.

Julien Guillot (Vignes du Maynes)
Based in the Mâconnais, Julien Guillot runs the historic, biodynamic Clos des Vignes du Maynes. Beyond his estate vineyards, he produces exceptional micro-négociant wines from top crus in Beaujolais. The Morgon Les Charmes is sourced from biodynamically farmed vines and vinified with Guillot’s signature semi-carbonic, zero-sulfur approach. The result is a lithe, wildly expressive, and incredibly energetic wine that highlights the Burgundian sensibility of his winemaking.

Lafarge Vial
This estate is the Beaujolais project of legendary Volnay producer Domaine Michel Lafarge. Farming biodynamically on the granitic soils of Fleurie and Chiroubles, the Lafarge family brings strict Burgundian techniques to Gamay. Depending on the vintage, they partially or fully destem the fruit before fermenting in concrete and aging in older Burgundy barrels. The Fleurie Joie du Palais comes from a brutally steep, horse-plowed vineyard, delivering a wine with intense mineral drive, fine-grained tannins, and the undeniable elegance of a serious Côte de Beaune red.

BEAUJOLAIS VINTAGE GUIDE (2014–2024)

2014: A classic, balanced vintage. Crisp acidity, bright red fruit, and excellent terroir transparency. Drinking beautifully now.

2015: A hot, solar vintage. Wines are incredibly ripe, dark-fruited, and structured. Built for long-term aging.

2016: A return to classicism. Fresh, elegant, and highly approachable with pure, crunchy fruit.

2017: A superb, concentrated year. Despite hail reducing yields in some crus, the surviving fruit produced dense, structured, and age-worthy wines.

2018: Warm and generous. The wines are fleshy, voluptuous, and deeply concentrated, yet maintain a surprising spine of crunchy freshness. A phenomenal vintage.

2019: A year marked by frost and heat waves, resulting in tiny yields. The wines are densely packed, structured, and classic in profile.

2020: Warm and an early harvest. Yielded generous, sun-kissed fruit backed by surprisingly vibrant acidity and tension.

2021: A cool, wet, "old-school" vintage. Lower alcohol, high acidity, and bright, tart red fruit. A favorite for purists seeking traditional freshness.

2022: Hot, dry, and extremely low-yielding. The wines are remarkably concentrated and rich, yet the best growers managed to capture exceptional energy and mineral drive.

2023: A generous, balanced, and juicy vintage. A return to the classic, joyful charm of Beaujolais with excellent approachability and supple fruit.

2024: A highly challenging, wet growing season with severe mildew pressure. Yields were drastically reduced, but meticulous sorting by top growers yielded fresh, high-quality, terroir-driven wines.

Note: Technical details, vineyard specifics, and historical context for the producers listed above were extracted and adapted from the exceptional portfolios of their respective importers (including Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Louis/Dressner Selections, Rosenthal Wine Merchant, and Vintage '59 Imports), as well as reference materials from publications such as Vinous, Jancis Robinson, and The Wine Advocate.