Jean-Claude Lapalu is one of the most revered growers in Beaujolais, a fixture of the Paris wine scene and a leader of France's natural wine movement, and this 2017 Gamay, farmed on granite, clay, and volcanic soils, is bottled simply as Vin de France. Low-to-no-sulfur vinification means nothing's been sanded down: the fruit arrives unvarnished, the granite shows up as a fine mineral thread through the mid-palate, and the structure stays lean rather than plush. Last bottle in the shop, and it's the kind of Gamay that made people care about Beaujolais in the first place.
About the Producer
Jean-Claude Lapalu is among the most respected and revered growers in Beaujolais, a darling of the Paris wine scene, and a leader in the so-called Natural Wine movement in France. He was a bit of a late-comer, assuming his unique place in the Beaujolais nexus between the generation of his peers (Breton, Dutraive, Foillard, Métras, Thevenet) and the young generation today. He farms the same vines that were once farmed by his father and grandfather. Though, as was common back in those days, they sold their wines and/or grapes to the local cooperative.
