2020 Michel Guignier 'La Bonne Pioche' gamay VDF 750ML
The vines for La Bonne Pioche are from a parcel within Michel’s farm. When it was appellated it was classified as Beaujolais Villages, an appellation that covers vines grown in 38 communes, including Vauxrenard, where Michel’s farm is located.
The soil on this area is mainly friable granite and Michel also has degraded sandstone (Grès).
This wine had 10 days of semi-carbonic maceration in stainless steel then spent 10 months in a foudre before bottling in July 2021. As with all the wines, its acidity ensures freshness and the viticulture and vinification provide the life.
Michel farms a small property near the village of Vauxrenard in the Beaujolais with about 7 hectares under vine. When we first started to work with him in 2013 most of the wines were named with the appellation they came from. The majority – the wine from the home vineyards – was Beaujolais Villages by virtue of being in the Vauxrenard commune. But he also made a Moulin à Vent and Fleurie cuvée.
He still has land in Moulin à Vent, from which he makes two wines, with the rest coming from the vines on his property. Now, though, he labels all his wines as Vin de France. Like many of the other people whose wine we import, he decided that life was better not having to deal with the bureaucrats. While it’s sad in a way that, thanks to rigorous rules, the places his wines come from are no longer so easily identifiable we’re more than happy that Vin de France gives him a better life.
There is more than one Michel Guignier making wine in the Beaujolais and both are imported into Australia. It helps that the other Michel Guignier, who also works organically but lives in Villié-Morgon, still appears to work entirely with appellated wines. So if you see a recent vintage of a Michel Guignier wine and it has an appellation other than Vin de France it’s the Villié-Morgon Michel Guignier. If it’s Vin de France it is almost certainly the Michel Guignier we work with who you can see here.
