Jean-Paul et Charly Thévenet
When Jean-Paul Thévenet took the reins of his family’s Beaujolais domaine in 1976, the region was in the midst of a productivity boom. Following WWII, modern developments including powerful fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides were introduced as progresssive solutions to traditional farming practices and rapidly became widespread. Jean-Paul’s father embraced these changes, which at the time were welcome improvements to the time-consuming, physically demanding labor to which the generations preceding him had grown accustomed.
Jean-Paul picked up where his father left off until a childhood friend convinced him to return to pre-industrial ways of farming and winemaking. Marcel Lapierre, who also ran a domaine in Villié-Morgon, had been experimenting with natural vinifications of organically farmed fruit with promising results, guided by the mentorship of local biochemist and vigneron Jules Chauvet. With Lapierre’s counsel, Thévenet began by eliminating synthetic treatments in his vines and in 1981 made a first attempt at producing a natural wine, using ripe, hand-harvested fruit fermented whole-cluster with vineyard yeasts, very little added sulfur, and no chaptalization. His first successful vintage came in 1985, and it would take years of additional tastings, discussions, and late nights with Lapierre and two other local boys, “P’tit Jean” Foillard and Guy “P’tit Max” Breton, before Jean-Paul (known as “Polpo”) would achieve consistency with his new methods. The Gang of Four, as Kermit later dubbed the Villié-Morgon rebels, soon began winning over hearts and palates with their fine, perfumed, terroir-driven Morgons.
Growing up at the domaine, Jean-Paul’s son Charly took an early interest in vigneron life, and specifically the world of natural wine. As a teenager, he worked in Marcel Lapierre’s cellar for three years before returning home to help his father. It was upon Charly’s impetus that Jean-Paul began tilling his vineyards in 2000, finally investing in the necessary equipment to work the soil mechanically. In 2006, eager to strike out on his own, Charly purchased his own vines in the neighboring cru of Régnié, in which he introduced biodynamic practices.
Father and son now work together under one label, carrying forth Jean-Paul’s vision of pure and profound Beaujolais from old vines via sustainable farming and low-intervention winemaking. The Thévenets’ plush, mouth-filling Morgon and spicy, stony Régnié are a testament to their status as natural wine pioneers, definitively cementing their legacy in the Beaujolais hall of fame.

Jean-Paul picked up where his father left off until a childhood friend convinced him to return to pre-industrial ways of farming and winemaking. Marcel Lapierre, who also ran a domaine in Villié-Morgon, had been experimenting with natural vinifications of organically farmed fruit with promising results, guided by the mentorship of local biochemist and vigneron Jules Chauvet. With Lapierre’s counsel, Thévenet began by eliminating synthetic treatments in his vines and in 1981 made a first attempt at producing a natural wine, using ripe, hand-harvested fruit fermented whole-cluster with vineyard yeasts, very little added sulfur, and no chaptalization. His first successful vintage came in 1985, and it would take years of additional tastings, discussions, and late nights with Lapierre and two other local boys, “P’tit Jean” Foillard and Guy “P’tit Max” Breton, before Jean-Paul (known as “Polpo”) would achieve consistency with his new methods. The Gang of Four, as Kermit later dubbed the Villié-Morgon rebels, soon began winning over hearts and palates with their fine, perfumed, terroir-driven Morgons.
Growing up at the domaine, Jean-Paul’s son Charly took an early interest in vigneron life, and specifically the world of natural wine. As a teenager, he worked in Marcel Lapierre’s cellar for three years before returning home to help his father. It was upon Charly’s impetus that Jean-Paul began tilling his vineyards in 2000, finally investing in the necessary equipment to work the soil mechanically. In 2006, eager to strike out on his own, Charly purchased his own vines in the neighboring cru of Régnié, in which he introduced biodynamic practices.
Father and son now work together under one label, carrying forth Jean-Paul’s vision of pure and profound Beaujolais from old vines via sustainable farming and low-intervention winemaking. The Thévenets’ plush, mouth-filling Morgon and spicy, stony Régnié are a testament to their status as natural wine pioneers, definitively cementing their legacy in the Beaujolais hall of fame.
Technical Information
Wine | Blend | Vine Age | Soil Type | Vineyard Area* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge” |
Chardonnay | Planted in 2015 | Clay, limestone | .5 ha |
Régnié “En Voiture Simone...” |
Gamay | 50-60 years old | Sandy granite | 1.5 ha |
Régnié “Grain & Granit” |
Gamay | Planted in 1932, 1946 | Granite | 2 ha |
Morgon “Tradition” |
Gamay | 50-60 years old | Granite, alluvial sand | 2 ha |
Morgon “Roche Pilée” |
Gamay | Planted in 1953, 1980-90 | Decomposed granite | 1.25 ha |
Morgon “Vieilles Vignes” |
Gamay | Planted in 1929, 1936, 1962-63 | Sandy granite | 2.5 ha |
* "ha" = hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres |
VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION
•Biodynamic farming: aeration of the soil, herbal infusions, natural composts, cover crops; planting, pruning, racking, and bottling in accordance with the lunar calendar
•Domaine is in the process of seeking organic certification
•Naturally low yields from mostly old vines
•Grapes are hand-harvested
•Fermentation with indigenous yeasts
Red wines
•100% whole-cluster fermentation
•Vinified at low temperature
•Infusion-style vinification without punchdowns or pumpovers
•Maceration lasts approximately 3 weeks before décuvage
•Élevage lasts 8-10 months
•Unfined and unfiltered
•Sulfur added only at bottling
Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge”
•Sourced from a parcel in the commune of Corcelles-en-Beaujolais
•Grapes are whole-cluster pressed directly after harvest
•Fermented and aged in 50% tank, 50% new demi-muids
•Small doses of sulfur added after malolactic fermentation and at bottling
•Bottled approximately 9 months after harvest
Régnié “En Voiture Simone…”
•Sourced from climat Le Village
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
•The label is a photo of Charly’s grandparents from the 1950s (Simone was his grandmother’s name); the name of the wine roughly translates to “let’s go”
Régnié “Grain & Granit”
•Sourced from lieux-dits Les Braves and Oeillat
•Granite bedrock sits below a thin layer of topsoil
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
Morgon
•Sourced from climats Douby and Les Charmes
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
Morgon “Roche Pilée”
• Carbonic maceration between 10 and 15 days
• Fermented and aged in concrete tank for 6-8 months
• Released one month after bottling
Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
•Sourced from climat Douby (lieux-dits Pérou, Le Clachet, Les Bresses)
•Aged in used 228-liter Burgundian barriques
•Domaine is in the process of seeking organic certification
•Naturally low yields from mostly old vines
•Grapes are hand-harvested
•Fermentation with indigenous yeasts
Red wines
•100% whole-cluster fermentation
•Vinified at low temperature
•Infusion-style vinification without punchdowns or pumpovers
•Maceration lasts approximately 3 weeks before décuvage
•Élevage lasts 8-10 months
•Unfined and unfiltered
•Sulfur added only at bottling
Beaujolais Blanc “Terrain Rouge”
•Sourced from a parcel in the commune of Corcelles-en-Beaujolais
•Grapes are whole-cluster pressed directly after harvest
•Fermented and aged in 50% tank, 50% new demi-muids
•Small doses of sulfur added after malolactic fermentation and at bottling
•Bottled approximately 9 months after harvest
Régnié “En Voiture Simone…”
•Sourced from climat Le Village
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
•The label is a photo of Charly’s grandparents from the 1950s (Simone was his grandmother’s name); the name of the wine roughly translates to “let’s go”
Régnié “Grain & Granit”
•Sourced from lieux-dits Les Braves and Oeillat
•Granite bedrock sits below a thin layer of topsoil
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
Morgon
•Sourced from climats Douby and Les Charmes
•Fermented and aged in concrete tank
Morgon “Roche Pilée”
• Carbonic maceration between 10 and 15 days
• Fermented and aged in concrete tank for 6-8 months
• Released one month after bottling
Morgon “Vieilles Vignes”
•Sourced from climat Douby (lieux-dits Pérou, Le Clachet, Les Bresses)
•Aged in used 228-liter Burgundian barriques
General Information
- Country
- France
- Region
- Beaujolais
- Appellation(s)
- Morgon, Régnié, Beaujolais
- Producer
- Charly & Jean-Paul Thévenet
- Founded
- 1960s
- Annual Production
- 2,000 cases
- Farming
- Biodynamic (practicing)