Marcel Lapierre, Gamay "Le Beaujolais" Morgon, Beaujolais, France 2021

A brand new wine in the Lapierre lineup, “Le Beaujolais” is a selection of declassified Morgon along with fruit from granitic parcels just outside the cru boundaries. Like the domaine’s legendary Morgon, it is whole-cluster fermented with native yeasts and bottled unfiltered with very little sulfur.

While it represents a more easygoing and immediate expression of Gamay meant for earlier drinking, do not mistake it for a petit vin of little consequence: it has easily enough depth and class to fool you into thinking you are drinking a much fancier and more expensive cru Beaujolais. A sort of mini-Morgon, “Le Beaujolais” is sweetly perfumed of ripe cherries and turned earth, backed by a vibrant freshness and silky, caressing tannins. Best of all, it exhibits the pleasure factor we expect from every bottle bearing the Lapierre label.