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2023 Chénas “Chassignol”
Domaine Thillardon
A finessed, mineral-driven beauty from hundred-year-old vines at the highest point in Chénas, on a steep granite incline overlooking the Thillardon winery.
—Anthony Lynch
Wine Type: | red |
Vintage: | 2023 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | Gamay |
Appellation: | Chénas |
Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Producer: | Domaine Thillardon |
Winemaker: | Paul-Henri Thillardon |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1920-1936; 3 ha |
Soil: | Pink granite |
Farming: | Organic (certified) |
Alcohol: | 12.5% |
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About The Producer
Domaine Thillardon
Paul-Henri Thillardon grew up in Beaujolais, where his family grew grapes to sell to the local co-op. He worked in the vines as a kid and aspired to make his own wine. At age twenty-one, he purchased vineyards in the cru of Chénas, seeing potential in an appellation that lacked the talent of Morgon and Fleurie. He farmed organically from the start and soon became exposed to the world of natural wine, taking advice from mentors such as Guy Breton. Paul-Henri’s siblings joined him at the domaine, and today they farm ten hectares of vines on a polyculture farm. The Thillardons have earned a reputation for their silky expressions of Gamay. Utilizing natural methods to create terroir-driven wines, the purity and vibrancy of their cuvées put them in company with the region’s most talented vignerons.
About The Region
Beaujolais
After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.
The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.
Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.
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Kermit once said...

Kermit once said...
For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.