2019 Lapierre Morgon

J

Jim Hanlon

Jim Hanlon
Over the years, I've had some mixed feelings with Lapierre. These were some of the first natural wines to excite me, and I have very fond memories of a visit to the domaine with Guilhaume about a decade ago, before Marcel fell ill and passed away. I am glad that Marcel's children took on the domaine, and charmed that brother and sister work together at it.

My nature is to cellar wines, and I've found that some, perhaps most, vintages of Lapierre don't really benefit from cellaring, and can decline earlier than I'd expect. A few years back, I hosted a dinner where we drank five or six vintages of Lapierre and Foillard paired. In just about every instance, the Foillard showed better.

As a result, Lapierre lost some excitement for me. I still treasure the bottles that Marcel made, but realize they may have more sentimental value than deliciousness. I used to buy a half case most years, and have cut back.

So it was especially joyous to open a 2019 (S cuvee) yesterday. The wine has wonderful red fruit and spice that can be hard to find in a young bottle. Incredibly drinkable, but engaging. It just made me happy. I remembered sitting on a stool in Terroir. I remembered driving around France in a rented Mercedes with Guilhaume (we'd paid for a generic mid-size). I remembered Marcel showing us his oldest vines. Those old memories are rich, and I'm very glad to have revisited them through a young wine. Not everything has to be cellared to be beautiful.

Anyway, if my bottle is typical, this is really worth opening now.
 
Thanks Jim - I think the domaine's wines took a dip initially as Mathieu was in the thrall of naturel winemaking, maybe with not enough attention to what actually resulted in the bottle. It seems to me the last several years have marked a return to form. I saw no diminishment in Marcel's last years.
 
This is a most encouraging report, Jim. I too have fond memories of my time in his cellars in 2001 but also have lost enthusiasm in recent years. I’ll have to pick up a few 19s and see for myself.

Mark Lipton
 
Great story, Jim. I liked a recent bottle of '19 Lapierre, too.

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
Click to expand...

I was going to make a joke but then decided it was too crude to put in writing.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Great story, Jim. I liked a recent bottle of '19 Lapierre, too.

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
Click to expand...

That may be the case. In ‘98, our rental car was a Lancia, which might have been my reward for telling the rental company that I drove manual transmissions. The car proved to be a great entree with Paul Feraud at Dom. De Pegau. Had my French been better (he spoke little English) I would have offered him to give it a spin.

Mark
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
Click to expand...
I was going to make a joke but then decided it was too crude to put in writing.
Click to expand...
He was kinda cute, if that's what you mean.

As am I.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
Click to expand...

I was going to make a joke but then decided it was too crude to put in writing.
Click to expand...

Then maybe you can just explain the joke without telling it.
 
originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

I think French car rental companies like upgrading Americans to bigger cars; has happened to me, too. I recall one gas station attendant admiring my vehicle with, "haut gamme!", which is not the same as 'hot damn' but not far off, either.
Click to expand...

I was going to make a joke but then decided it was too crude to put in writing.
Click to expand...

Same.
 
Picked up three bottles on the strength of this. On topic, last night had a 2018 Sylvan Pataille Marsannay La Montagne 13,0% that was really lovely.
 
Over the last week I've had 2013 Lapierre (N cuvee) and Roilette Tardive.

The Lapierre reinforced my impressions above. The young fruit had faded, but not really evolved. In its absence, the wine was marked mostly by disjointed acidity, including some noticeable VA. I had this bottle at 55 since release and it was a Kermit import, so provenance shouldn't have been an issue.

The Roilette still had plenty of delicious Beaujolais fruit, and seems to be in a transitional phase, as the fruit moves off primary. Drinkable and fun, but I expect I'll enjoy future bottles even more.
 
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:
Over the last week I've had 2013 Lapierre (N cuvee) and Roilette Tardive.

The Lapierre reinforced my impressions above. The young fruit had faded, but not really evolved. In its absence, the wine was marked mostly by disjointed acidity, including some noticeable VA. I had this bottle at 55 since release and it was a Kermit import, so provenance shouldn't have been an issue.

The Roilette still had plenty of delicious Beaujolais fruit, and seems to be in a transitional phase, as the fruit moves off primary. Drinkable and fun, but I expect I'll enjoy future bottles even more.
Click to expand...

Re Lapierre - that I think was the peak of the VA/brett issues at Lapierre. I am sensing those are dissipating more recently. It sounds like your 2019 was great - did you get any VAishness?
 
originally posted by BJ:
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:
Over the last week I've had 2013 Lapierre (N cuvee) and Roilette Tardive.

The Lapierre reinforced my impressions above. The young fruit had faded, but not really evolved. In its absence, the wine was marked mostly by disjointed acidity, including some noticeable VA. I had this bottle at 55 since release and it was a Kermit import, so provenance shouldn't have been an issue.

The Roilette still had plenty of delicious Beaujolais fruit, and seems to be in a transitional phase, as the fruit moves off primary. Drinkable and fun, but I expect I'll enjoy future bottles even more.
Click to expand...

Re Lapierre - that I think was the peak of the VA/brett issues at Lapierre. I am sensing those are dissipating more recently. It sounds like your 2019 was great - did you get any VAishness?
Click to expand...

No, I didn't. The VA in the 2013 wasn't obnoxious (disclosure: I drink a fair bit of Italian wine and am pretty tolerant of VA), and I don't know that it would have stood out so much if there was a stronger fruit presence.
 
I guess I'm getting old. I drank another 2019 Lapierre Morgon, unsulphured this time, and enjoyed it so much I thought I should post here. Looked up the wine, to find my own post of 10 weeks ago.

Anyway, this wine takes me back to happy, delicious bottles of 2007 at Terroir, more than a decade ago. It has as much youthful vivaciousness as the Lapierre of my vinous youth.
 
I had a bottle (not sure if it was sans souffre) of '19 La Pierre a few weeks back, and was swept off my feet. Lovely, joyous wine.
 
I had two bottles of the 2019 Lapierre Morgon in the last month, both lovely in a straightforward, semi-carbonically uncomplicated way (I kept restraining myself from wanting anything more from a toddler). Certainly paradigmatic.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
I was offered 2017 Foillard "3.14" today at $80. The '07 was $50. I'm glad for them but I doubt I'm a buyer.
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Yes, although the $80 is probably even on the low side for the US right now.
 
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