Like Laura Lardy, who comes from four generations of Beaujolais winemakers, this bottle is deeply connected to the ancestry of the land. ‘La Fayarde’ pays tribute to the ancient forests that once blanketed the landscape in the Chénas region of the Beaujolais. Its pronounced structure and distinct green-ness runs through Gamay’s classic bright fruit character to emulate the lush woods that preceded it.
Austria is crushing the natural wine game these days. Koppitsch is up there with the greats: Tschida, Gut Ogau, and Meinklang. This cuvée is 70% Blaufränkisch and 30% St Laurent. It’s a fresh and light red wine, with awesome minerality and a long finish.
Tradition is an apt name for this bottle. This year, Charly joins his father, Jean-Paul Thévenet, in creating a singular take on the natural style of Beaujolais that the Gang of Four pioneered in the 1980s. It’s vibrant, serious, and also immensely fun. An intergenerational mashup worth sharing.
Nuits d’Ivresse — “drunken nights” — is one of our all-time favorite back-the-truck-up wines. It has that sing-song quality only possessed by high-toned Cabernet Franc and aromas of crushed red raspberry and underripe cherry. A party in a bottle — if you’re like us, you won’t be able to keep your hands off it.
Nicolas Vauthier helped open one of the first natural wine bars in France, ‘Aux Crieurs de Vins’ and continued his legacy by starting his own winemaking project in Burgundy. This Pinot Noir has a bright and juicy quality while still holding its own against a rich meal.
You know the gang by now–Lapierre, Foillard, and Breton. These guys banded up in their twenties to (help) change the world of French wine, natural wine, and Beaujolais forever. But the name Thévenet, the fourth gang of Four member, rarely gets mentioned. That's partially because Jean-Paul makes far less wine than the others. The single wine he makes, perhaps the most elegant and long-lived expression of Morgon I've ever tasted is a true study on that lovely village. It is high-toned, zesty, and lightly funk in its youth, and can age like great Burgundy–if, unlike me, you have the patience to wait. I've gone through chilled bottle after chilled bottle this summer. If you love Beaujolais and haven't yet experienced Thévenet's rendition, now's the time to do it!
Jean Paul & Charly Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes 2021 1.5L
You know the gang by now–Lapierre, Foillard, and Breton. These guys banded up in their twenties to (help) change the world of French wine, natural wine, and Beaujolais forever. But the name Thévenet, the fourth gang of Four member, rarely gets mentioned. That's partially because Jean-Paul makes far less wine than the others. The single wine he makes, perhaps the most elegant and long-lived expression of Morgon I've ever tasted is a true study on that lovely village. It is high-toned, zesty, and lightly funk in its youth, and can age like great Burgundy–if, unlike me, you have the patience to wait. I've gone through chilled bottle after chilled bottle this summer. If you love Beaujolais and haven't yet experienced Thévenet's rendition, now's the time to do it!
