In Morgon, Jean-Paul Thevenet and his son Charly tend one of Beaujolais' most storied small estates, producing elegant, terroir-driven Gamay rooted in the natural-wine revival.
Backstory
Jean-Paul Thevenet is one of the original natural winemakers of Morgon, part of the celebrated Gang of Four alongside the late Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, and Guy Breton. These growers called for a return to old viticulture and vinification: old vines, no synthetic herbicides or pesticides, late harvesting, rigorous sorting, minimal or no sulfur, and a refusal of chaptalization and filtration. Today Jean-Paul farms the domaine with his son Charly.
The Region
The estate is based in the Morgon and Regnie crus of Beaujolais, where granite and schist soils give Gamay its depth and structure.
Vineyards and Farming
The Thevenets work a small domaine of fewer than five hectares of old vines. Since 2008 the father-and-son team have adopted organic and biodynamic viticulture.
Winemaking
Following the teachings of Jules Chauvet, they use a cool carbonic maceration and finish fermentation in used Burgundy barrels, with only small doses of sulfur added at bottling.
The Wines
Their Morgon cuvees, including the Tradition and the old-vine Vieilles Vignes bottlings, are among the appellation's most refined expressions of Gamay.
