By now, with this thirty-fifth consecutive vintage of the domaine’s Morgon we’ve shipped to American shores, many are familiar with the significance of the name Lapierre on a wine label. Kermit summed it up concisely in 1992 when he wrote, “Lapierre is the Beaujolais renegade who does not chaptalize, does not add yeasts, and does not filter.” Marcel’s rejection of industrialized, production-oriented agriculture in favor of the labor-intensive traditional farming his father and grandfather practiced marked a turning point in the Beaujolais and beyond, as countless vignerons would later follow in his footsteps and embrace more natural ways of viticulture and winemaking.
    One part of the story often left out is that a young Marcel Lapierre, back at the domaine following military service in the early ’70s, initially convinced his father to abandon the old-fashioned ways of working for the modern techniques he had just learned in winemaking school. Not only were the Lapierres assured a consistent crop from year to year, but they could wave good-bye to the laborious days spent tilling the vineyard soils when a quick pass spraying synthetic herbicides would easily do the job.
    One little caveat, however: Marcel realized he couldn’t stand to drink his own wines, which he deemed insipid. He always found himself reaching for the bottles his late father had produced via those “archaic” methods. And so began, with the mentorship of an eccentric old biochemist named Jules Chauvet, a return to tradition: no more herbicides or chemical fertilizers, but also no more laboratory yeasts, massive doses of sulfur, acidification, chaptalization, or sterile filtration in the cellar. The 1978 vintage would be Marcel’s very first “natural wine.”
    Forty-four harvests later, Marcel’s son, Mathieu, and daughter, Camille, manage the domaine with the same sense of humility that their father learned in his early days. They have taken his life’s work and elevated it in the face of new challenges, namely a capricious and changing climate. The wines remain as good as ever: this is Gamay in its purest form, from some of the very best terroirs in the Beaujolais region. The newly arrived 2023 is a pleasure bomb, chock-full of silky ripe fruit, earthy tones, and a stimulating juicy energy. Kermit wrote of Marcel’s 1990 Morgon, “It is one of the most delicious young reds we have ever sold.” From a comparable vintage, this latest release makes me feel the same.