As a young man, André Guillard wanted to become a vigneron, working the family domaine in the southern end of the Beaujolais, in the village of Pouilly-le-Monial. Since production was small, there were only enough resources for André’s father and brother to farm it. Accepting the situation as it stood, he became a baker, but his dream never died. At the ripe age of fifty, André was finally given his chance to be part of the domaine. His grandson, Cédric Vincent, was just a tot, but the two were quite close. Cédric’s parents were going through a divorce, but early memories of longing to join his grandfather in the vineyards brought the young Cédric solace. Today, after completing his advanced studies in enology, Cédric works side-by-side in the vineyards and the cellar with André, now in his late eighties. Cédric takes his role at the domaine seriously, while resuscitating ancestral tradition and his family’s legacy with great heart.  

Cédric farms in the Bas Beaujolais, located in between Villefranche-sur-Saône and Lyon. This lower half of the region is best known for producing the grapes for Beaujolais Nouveau. The annual release of the vintage’s first fermentations, though intended as much-beloved ritual, has devolved over the last thirty years into an industry of mass-marketed juice of questionable quality.  The Bas Beaujolais is rich in clay, and while it makes a geological break with its granitic northern half (where many of the great crus are located), Cédric has used his native land to his advantage. Old vines and low yields are the keys to his success—two concepts deemed crazy by neighboring vignerons. Cédric is a garagiste in his full glory, with nothing but his vines, a dirt-floor garage, an old oak press, and oak casks with which to work. His wines enjoy an intensity and concentration that are rare even among many of the cru Beaujolais and represent all that is special in such a young talent. Cédric crafts a beautiful A.O.C. Beaujolais, and an outstanding Beaujolais Nouveau—a wine of such depth that it stands to change public perceptions about Nouveau. In the words of Dixon Brooke, “It’s what you get when you take a good village level terroir and work it as you would a grand cru.” And Kermit adds his two bits worth, “If you haven’t tasted Vincent’s, you don’t know how good an A.O.C. Beaujolais can be.”