Natural wine from Beaujolais

The history of natural wine largely begins in Beaujolais. The chemist and winemaker Jules Chauvet already advocated wine without added sulphur and with wild yeast in the middle of the 20th century. In the 1980s four growers in Villié-Morgon took his ideas further: Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton and Jean-Paul Thévenet, often called the Gang of Four.

The grape is Gamay. South of Villefranche the soil is more clay and limestone, and lighter wines are made here under the name Beaujolais. In the north granite and schist dominate, and here are Beaujolais-Villages and the ten crus: Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly. Vinification is often carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration with whole bunches, which gives fruity wines with low tannin.

The producers at PACT in Beaujolais are Jean Foillard, Alex Foillard, Domaine Thillardon, Domaine L&C Desvignes, Marc Delienne, Robert-Denogent and Arpayé.