Domaine Didier Desvignes

The Desvignes family is one of those old wine families that has been dealing with grapes and fermented brews for generations. Six generations, to be precise. Didier Desvignes was no more than 11 years old when he began pruning in the vineyard. In 1981, he bought his first plot of land in Morgon and called the place Domaine du Calvaire de Roche-Grés. Today, most of the production on the ever-expanding estate goes by the name Didier Desvignes. Here, cultivation is at the centre. Didier maintains that vinification is merely a way of transferring the terroir imprint from the vineyard to the bottle, and the less you interfere, the better. Low yields, biodiversity, green harvesting... Oak barrels for malolactic fermentation in order to "give depth and complexity." Minimal sulphur or, often, no sulphur at all. Anyone wanting to learn the difference between the various sites in Beaujolais would do well to taste their way through Didier Desvignes' range (Morgon, Brouilly, Moulin-à-Vent, Chiroubles, Fleurie...). Clean and polished, and consistently driven by fruit and good balance.