Morgon is single handedly the most important cru and also the largest encompassing 1,100 hectares in Beaujolais. The soil structure in Beaujolais is the most expressive and interesting for the Gamay grape. Schist and crumbling granite make up the weathered soils here. The vines thrive very close to the ground and pruning is very aggressive to help these fragile grapes ripen properly.
Marcel Lapierre, a fantastic wine maker, helped to put Beaujolais on the map for many wine drinkers. It is no exaggeration to say he changed the way we look at gamay today. He was born in the 1950’s in a time when pesticides and fertilizers were being used broadly to ease vineyard management. In the 1970's Marcel took over the maintenance and production of his family vineyards and by the 1980's he had gone completely biodynamic. This made Marcel the first Beaujolais winemaker who used no pesticides or added sulfur in the winemaking process. The result was a much cleaner and true representation of the terrior.
I had the opportunity to taste the last two vintages Marcel produced before he died from melanoma in 2010. The 2008 and 2009 vintages were extremely different and interesting in their own right.
2008: The growing season started off great with warm and dry weather, yet in August it began to hail creating a panic for winemakers. When September rolled around the weather went back to clear skies and dry warm days making it a great harvest.
Results: this wine was funky, alfalfa, dandelions, blue berries, and manure
2009: Word on the street was that this had been the best vintage in nearly 50 years!
Results: fun and flirty, this wine has notes of strawberries, and violets. The terrior is very present and the wine, being so young, is way too drinkable to believe
No comments:
Post a Comment