Domaine de la Beche

Domaine de la Bêche was founded in 1848. Olivier Depardon, the family’s 7th generation, took the reins in 1985 with 4 acres of vines and has increased it to 65 acres. Most are in AOP Morgon, followed by Regnié and then Beaujolais-Villages.

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.

The domain is unique in the appellation for having vines in all six of Morgon’s climats. They are Les Charmes, Côte du Py, Corcellette, Douby, Grand Cras, and Micouds, and grapes from each go into the Morgon Vieille Vignes cuvée. Soils here are not simply granitic, but rather a mix, especially around Côte du Py, of schist, granite, and even metamorphosed andesite.

Following Brouilly, Morgon is the second largest of Beaujolais’ ten crus.