Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022

Description

Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022 is a Beaujolais Cru wine, meaning that it comes from one of the top ten best areas of Beaujolais, Morgon. Produced entirely from the Gamay grape, its aromas and flavours are fruity – sweet cherry – with raspberry and hints of liquorice.  The style is fairly light in body but certainly not in flavour. There are tannins which give the wine some structure but they are low and fine rather than astringent. Though there is some oak influence it is evident more in the texture of the wine than in the taste. I was bowled over when I first tasted an earlier vintage of this wine and it continues to impress each year. Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022 is light and fruity but complex with a really smooth texture, a little like a fine Pinot Noir (in fact Gamay is related to the Pinot Noir grape). A really elegant and fruity wine.

Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022 is something of a cult wine having been produced originally by Marcel Lapierre, a leading light in France’s natural wine movement. He was one of the first, back in 1981, to make his wines without adding sulphites or commercially-produced yeast and to cultivate his wines without adding fertilisers, weed killer or indeed any chemicals. This, especially in France with its then very traditional wine-making history, made him something of a maverick. But he gradually gathered a host of fans eager to try these natural wines.

Domaine Marcel Lapierre is now run by Marcel’s son Mathieu and daughter Camille, the fourth generation of Lapierre winemakers. They continue the ethos of producing fine wines in Beaujolais as naturally as possible using old vines, natural yeasts with no additives and minimal intervention. I hesitate to use the term ‘natural wine’ for Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022 as some natural wines can be a little cloudy and funky but this really is natural wine at its best.

For another amazing Morgon, try Château de Grand Pré Morgon from Romain Zordan.