Louis-Clement David-Beaupère, Pet’Nat

Grapes: Gamay

Region: Beaujolais, France 

Vintage: 2021

Viticulture: Organic 

Fining or Filtering: None 

Sulfur: None 

Notes from the Importer:  Bone dry but not without depth. This pét-nat is fleshy, full of white raspberries and nectarines. A serious favorite.

In 2008 Louis-Clément David-Beaupère (yes he has two hyphenated names) took over the family domaine his grandfather had purchased after the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). Prior to the wars end, the family resided in Algeria, where they grew cereals and vines. Clément (the one out of his three first names he prefers to be called) did not start out in wine-making. He first studied engineering and commerce before realising continuing his family legacy was his true calling in life. Since taking over responsibilities at the estate, Clément has been making the wines and, along with his mother, working in the vineyard farming their almost 7 hectares of vines.

When Louis-Clément took over the vineyards, he immediately started converting to organic farming - the vineyards were simply too close to the house to keep spraying with herbicides. In parts the vineyards were planted to densely and he removed some rows to allow less competition and greater airflow. This allowed him to work the soils less and allow greater grass species to return to his soils. The domaine and the wines are now certified organic and over the past decade Clemant has moved fully towards natural winemaking. The Domaine makes one Juliénas (named ‘Trois Verres’), two wines from ‘La Bottière’ (one from young vines and one from older vines), plus one from a very (very!) steep vineyard full of blue volcanic stones called ‘Vayolette’. Recently, a Beaujolais-Villages, Pet nat and the yearly Nouveau have been added to his range.

All of Louis-Clément’s wines are quintessentially high-quality Beaujolais. Very juicy, but also much more serious than your average glou-glou Gamay friend. Leaning slightly less towards a gentle Burgundy-style, and more towards true, classy and mineral Beaujolais than some of the other top natural Beaujolais producers, we believe Clément is a bright shining star in the making.