Beaujolais may be a lighter wine, but we at KLWM don’t take our Beaujolais lightly! Our appetite for bright, pure-fruited Gamay has been insatiable ever since Kermit’s first trip exploring the region in 1974. It has been our joy to introduce you to benchmark domaines such as Lapierre, Foillard, and Château Thivin, and now there is a new name to remember from these undulating hillsides north of Lyon.
     Paul-Henri Thillardon often worked in his family’s vines in the southern Beaujolais as a kid, and aspired to one day make his own wine. At age twenty-one, he purchased a small vineyard in the cru of Chénas, seeing potential in an appellation that lacked the superstar talent of nearby Morgon and Fleurie. It wasn’t easy at first: “Paulo” didn’t know anybody and slept in the back of his car, parked amid the vines, while he struggled to make ends meet.
     He farmed organically from the start and soon became exposed to the world of natural wine, eagerly soaking up advice from mentors such as Guy Breton, Jean-Louis Dutraive, and Yvon Métras. As the budding vigneron began to find his feet, he seized an opportunity to purchase an old farmhouse surrounded by stubby centenarian Gamay trunks on the upper slopes of Chénas. Paul-Henri’s sister and two brothers soon joined him at the domaine, and today the Thillardon siblings have increased their holdings to ten hectares on a polyculture farm featuring cows, pigs, and a horse trained to help them work their steep hillside parcels.
     The Thillardons have carved out a niche across the varied terroirs of Chénas, the smallest of Beaujolais’ ten crus. They also tend some vines in neighboring Moulin-à-Vent, giving them a wide palette of soils, exposures, and elevations with which to play.
     In the cellar, Paulo has adopted time-tested methods pioneered by Jules Chauvet and Morgon’s Gang of Four to yield Beaujolais with vivacious fruit and a strong soil signature. Fermentations are 100% whole-cluster with native yeast, and he bottles unfiltered with little to no sulfur. It’s no wonder the Thillardons have earned a reputation for their explosively fresh, low-alcohol, irresistibly silky expressions of Gamay from a previously unheralded corner of Beaujolais’ crus. The purity and vibrancy of their cuvées put them in elite company with the region’s most talented vignerons, brilliantly utilizing natural methods to create terroir-driven wines full of pleasure and conviviality.