Vincent Fritzsche
Vincent Fritzsche
So sad to hear this news. Never met the man, but his wines inspire me.
Salut et merci pour tout, Marcel.
- Thread starter Brézème
- Start date
Scott Kraft
Scott Kraft
Very sad indeed. I will be at Ten Bells in spirit.
Paul Verdich
Paul Verdich
How terribly sad.
A year to the day we arrived at his eponymous winery out of Villie Morgon just before lunch. He met us with a wonderful smile puffing on a huge cigar - his french cap struggling to remain on his head such was its angle. He was entertaining a number of other vigernons - i wish I could recognise them - and the laughter was raucous, seemingly ribaud and the booze was flowing.
He could easily have told us to piss off but no he graciously listened to our pathetic french , went down to the cellar and brought out about 6 bottles of morgons going back to 1997 and left us in the capable hands of his son Matthieu who seems more than capable of continuing the fine traditions of the familly.
Our vist to the Lappierre's was one of the highlights of out trip through burgundy and the loire.
I expect to get my allocation of 2009 lappiere Morgon in the next week or so - it will be both a painfull but uplifting exercise to open the first and toast a remarkable man - a man who was one of the principal contemporary beaujolais makers that has transformed beaujolais at the cru level back to its traditional roots - a vin de garde
A year to the day we arrived at his eponymous winery out of Villie Morgon just before lunch. He met us with a wonderful smile puffing on a huge cigar - his french cap struggling to remain on his head such was its angle. He was entertaining a number of other vigernons - i wish I could recognise them - and the laughter was raucous, seemingly ribaud and the booze was flowing.
He could easily have told us to piss off but no he graciously listened to our pathetic french , went down to the cellar and brought out about 6 bottles of morgons going back to 1997 and left us in the capable hands of his son Matthieu who seems more than capable of continuing the fine traditions of the familly.
Our vist to the Lappierre's was one of the highlights of out trip through burgundy and the loire.
I expect to get my allocation of 2009 lappiere Morgon in the next week or so - it will be both a painfull but uplifting exercise to open the first and toast a remarkable man - a man who was one of the principal contemporary beaujolais makers that has transformed beaujolais at the cru level back to its traditional roots - a vin de garde
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
That's "ribald", newbie.
Paul Verdich
Paul Verdich
haha - yeah you're probably right - but down here in oz you are lucky to get any of us to string a lucid sentence together let alone spell it correctly.
John McIlwain
John McIlwain
Thank you, Marcel. For the beauty and the joy and for helping me to love Beaujolais as much as I do. Such sociable wines!
Very sad news. He truly was inspired and inspirational. Indeed, ten or so years ago I chided .sasha for getting way too excited about Gamay. Well, it took awhile, but it was Lapierre's wines that finally got me excited about Gamay.
I wish I could join my friends at Ten Bells tomorrow, but I unfortunately can't be there.
I wish I could join my friends at Ten Bells tomorrow, but I unfortunately can't be there.
It was a 96 Lapierre that got me into real wine. I still remember the bottle in all its meaty glory.
We visited him twice, and each time he was very kind and gracious. We were there during the 05 harvest, and saw two sides to him - a few days before the harvest we spent several hours drinking and bs'ing with him, and then later, once the harvest started, he was all work and business and focus.
During that visit we also talked with another winemaker, and I really wish I could remember who. We were talking about M. Lapierre and how important he was to Beaujolais and he stopped me and said something like, "No, you don't understand. Marcel is like the King, the Pope of Beaujolais."
We saw him again this summer and he set aside his work to visit with us. He was recovering from his big annual Bastille Day party which we had wanted to crash but thought we shouldn't - when we told him we were in town and knew about it he said we should have come - alas. I gave him a good laugh when I thought he said he'd roasted forty pigs (instead of four).
Of course these are just some passing moments.
With deepest sympathy to the Lapierre family and the Beaujolais community.
Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
Thank you, BJ.
Vincent Fritzsche
Vincent Fritzsche
Fellow disorderly scottfrank and I got together last night to talk shit and drink Lapierre. The '09 was pretty fruit centric right now but full of energy and life. Should last a long time. The '07 MMVII was fucking unbelievable, more woodsy but still so young and pure. Loved both of these. Thanks to Marcel and the family.
Wow, I returned from 4 days without Internet access and saw this thread when visiting here. How terribly sad that he is gone, but how glad I am that I did get a chance to visit him and his cave and got to know his wines. My memory of him will always be of a man so full of life and joy. If any of you can read this in time, please hoist a glass in his memory for me at Ten Bells. I'm going home tonight and opening one of his wines, too, even though I'm only 80% over a cold goddammit!
Merci pour tout, Marcel, et au revoir. Pouvons nous nous runissons encore.
Mark Lipton
Merci pour tout, Marcel, et au revoir. Pouvons nous nous runissons encore.
Mark Lipton
I never had the pleasure of meeting the man. Never even had the pleasure of being in the same room with him. But he's been a constant presence for well over two decades.
I first ran across his wine in a SF-area wine shop in the mid 80s. I don't even know what made me pick that particular wine. Maybe the wine picked me. I had just finished up my coursework at UCD, and was well on my way to putting down roots in the North Coast wine industry. To say that the bottle presented an alternative way of doing things, of viewing things, is to be guilty of gross understatement.
A heartfelt thanks to M. Lapierre for all the wonderful wine over the years. And for serving (unwittingly, I'm sure) as an indispensable guide on the journey.
Whatever they were serving before, the winelist in heaven just got a damn sight better.
I first ran across his wine in a SF-area wine shop in the mid 80s. I don't even know what made me pick that particular wine. Maybe the wine picked me. I had just finished up my coursework at UCD, and was well on my way to putting down roots in the North Coast wine industry. To say that the bottle presented an alternative way of doing things, of viewing things, is to be guilty of gross understatement.
A heartfelt thanks to M. Lapierre for all the wonderful wine over the years. And for serving (unwittingly, I'm sure) as an indispensable guide on the journey.
Whatever they were serving before, the winelist in heaven just got a damn sight better.
scottreiner
scott reiner
who imported the wine before lynch?
Drank a couple bottles of the '09 Morgon with friends tonight (well, yesterday now).
This is the Lapierre time of year. You're hanging on to the summer, not quite ready to give it up. Not quite ready to embrace fall. Far too willing to stay up late, hang out, and bullshit.
Something that feels right when you're knocking it back. Something to drink when you're really not too worried about whatever you're passionately defending. And then it catches your attention, just enough to cock your head, snort a chuckle, and smile a little.
When we're lucky, we catch someone else's eye, and it'll be a little shared moment. Not a big one, but profound all the same.
There's a little sadness. The light is fading, hazy, lazy. There are more important things to waste our time on. It's the human condition- we can't have more of this.
When we're lucky, we have those little shared moments to know that we have a tribe. The lizard brain gets a bit of comfort- we break bread, align ourselves if only for the night.
Thanks, friends.
This is the Lapierre time of year. You're hanging on to the summer, not quite ready to give it up. Not quite ready to embrace fall. Far too willing to stay up late, hang out, and bullshit.
Something that feels right when you're knocking it back. Something to drink when you're really not too worried about whatever you're passionately defending. And then it catches your attention, just enough to cock your head, snort a chuckle, and smile a little.
When we're lucky, we catch someone else's eye, and it'll be a little shared moment. Not a big one, but profound all the same.
There's a little sadness. The light is fading, hazy, lazy. There are more important things to waste our time on. It's the human condition- we can't have more of this.
When we're lucky, we have those little shared moments to know that we have a tribe. The lizard brain gets a bit of comfort- we break bread, align ourselves if only for the night.
Thanks, friends.