Domaine de la Beche 2021 Morgon

Domaine de la Bêche 2020 Morgon Beaujolais

Pairs with: Roasted turkey sandwiches

Good for: Reading on a rainy day

Grape: Gamay

I am from: Beaujolais, France

The story: Domaine de la Bêche was founded deep in the hills of Beaujolais in 1848. Olivier Depardon, the family’s 7th generation, took the reins in 1985 with 4 acres of vines and over the years this industrious man increased the domain’s holdings to 65 acres. He also invested in new equipment and has plans on hand to expand the cellar. In 2003 he made the decision to de-stem all the fruit and stop working with whole clusters (but retaining whole berries, thus gentle ferments with a semi-carbonic result), but he still uses the 5,000 and 6,000-liter foudres that his father and grandfather used to age the Morgon VV and Côte du Py. All fermentations continue to be spontaneous. In 2013 his son Alexis joined the domain following enological studies. In 2018, Alexis’ older sister Caroline also joined the domain, and now the commercial side is mostly handled by her and her mother Ghislaine, while the vines and cellar are mostly handled by Olivier and Alexis (with the aid of patriarch Maurice, Olivier’s father, who still is out in the vines pruning—apparently much faster than either his son or grandson). But everyone does a bit of everything.

Why you’ll love me: Dark berries and cherries with a hint of graphite at the end.