RIP Marcel Lapierre

Dead at 60 from cancer:

It is almost impossible to overstate his importance to the world of wine. As a disciple of Jules Chauvet, he pioneered the resurgence of Beaujolais, spearheading Kermit Lynch's "Gang of Four (Five)" of quality-orinented traditionalists in the Beaujolais. He also led the movement toward "natural wine" that has now taken hold in Europe and has begun to gain traction in the USA.

On a personal level, I had one of my most memorable winery visits in

2001 at the residence of M. Lapierre. We spent the entire afternoon in his cave tasting barrel samples (he made one wine then) and his proposed assemblage for that year's wine. We tasted 17 samples, I believe, including a head-to-head comparison of two samples of the same wine, one of which had been treated with SO2, the other of which hadn't. The differences were astonishing, with the unsulfured wine showing fresher and more fruity. At the end of this orgy of wine, we exited to his courtyard where he treated us to fresh-baked bread and artisanal charcuterie that he'd brought back from the Netherlands which we washed down with some of his wine. I trace my love affair with quality Cru Beaujolais to that day.

M. Lapierre, you will be missed. :(

Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton
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