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2024 Fleurie “Les Moriers”

Domaine Chignard
Discount Eligible $30.00
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With its growing concentration of elite domaines taking first-rate terroirs to new heights, the cru of Fleurie has given Morgon a run for its money in recent years. But Kermit took an early interest in Fleurie in the late ’70s when he kept hearing about a special vineyard there called “Les Moriers.” Near Fleurie’s border with neighboring Moulin-à-Vent, Les Moriers had been reputed since the nineteenth century for producing wines with a rare mingling of both crus’ best qualities; floral and elegant from Fleurie, deep and stony from Moulin-à-Vent.
     Kermit describes the moment he discovered the Chignard family, now our longest-running relationship in the Beaujolais, with reverence: “And there, right at the top of this famous piece of earth, famous at least in the Beaujolais region, stood the house of Michel Chignard, and below the modest home, his winery. And in his winery, exceptional wines.” Today, Michel’s son Cédric makes those exceptional wines, and first among them, Les Moriers. He continues to deliver on the wine’s legacy as a unique bridge between two contrasting crus. At once elegant, fragrant, and structured, this beautiful expression of Fleurie showcases one of Beaujolais’ great sites.

Tom Wolf


Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2024
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: Gamay
Appellation: Fleurie
Country: France
Region: Beaujolais
Producer: Domaine Chignard
Winemaker: Michel & Cédric Chignard
Vineyard: 60 years, 8 ha
Soil: Granite
Aging: Aged in old foudres (large oak barrels) for 13 months
Farming: Organic (certified)
Alcohol: 12.5%

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About The Region

Beaujolais

map of 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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Where the newsletter started

Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch

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