Olivier Depardon Domaine de la Beche Morgon Cote du Py, Beaujolais, France 2022

Founded in 1848 in the hills of Beaujolais, Domaine de la Bêche is currently led by Olivier Depardon, the seventh generation winemaker who took charge in 1985. With an initial 4 acres, Olivier expanded the estate to 69 acres, mainly in AOP Morgon, followed by Regnié and Beaujolais-Villages. In 2003, a shift to destemming all fruit marked their winemaking approach. The domaine uses traditional 5,000 and 6,000-liter foudres for spontaneous fermentations. Olivier's son Alexis joined in 2013, followed by daughter Caroline in 2018. The family uniquely owns vines in all six of Morgon’s climats, contributing to the representative Morgon Vieille Vignes cuvée. Their Morgon, known for being dense and long-lived, reflects the region's "roche pourrie" soils, rich in iron and diverse geology, making Morgon one of Beaujolais' significant crus.