Karim Vionnet in Villié-Morgon

by Laurent Turrel, © www.nuncbibendum.com 2008 

Karim Vionnet says it himself: « I've always wanted to make a wine that is like me:  natural and unpretentious ». A goal realised by this young wine grower who for a short time has been producing wines that are among the most exciting Beaujolais today. An absolute must to taste!

Karim Vionnet, in his thirties, is a happy wine producer, one of those for whom the love of work well done is its own reward. And he deserves it! After having gone through training for several years at Guy Breton's, alias p'tit Max, THE reference for natural Beaujolais, Karim has quite recently taken flight. Expert in these teachings, he now runs 3.7 hectares in the commune of Villié-Morgon, there where the greatest can already be found (Lapierre, Foillard, Descombes, Breton...). His plots are located on the communes of Quincié, Beaujeu and Lantignié. Land that is halfway up the hillside with very diverse types of soil from one plot to another: marl, shiste, sand. It's this diversity that gives a truly regional flavour to his wines. The average age of the vines is 55 years and at the moment 2 vintages are produced: a young Beaujolais village (primeur) and a red Beaujolais village. While waiting one can expound over a few Beaujolais vintages which are in process.

It goes without saying that the growing of the vines is entirely natural, without recourse to any plant-care products, pesticides, etc. The priority for Karim is his region. That's why he pampers and ploughs it and maintains an intense organic life in his soils.

As for the wine-making process, there again it's the most natural possible: indigenous yeasts (no addition of exterior yeasts), no addition of sugar and almost none of sulphur, only 1mg/l at the time of bottling to stop the wine from becoming oxidised, which is infinitesimal. The wine is very lightly filtered in order to preserve its aromatic richness and its regional identity.

- Beaujolais village 2007: brilliant colour and clarity, full of sparkle, with a pretty ruby colour, lightly purpled. To our nose, it's a real basket of fruits that explodes, and we find the aromas of raspberry, red currant, cherry, strawberry, and blackcurrant, and then the floral notes arrive (iris, lilac, wild rose) before continuing with a marked minerality that gives energy to the nose. The mouth is supple, gourmand, crunchy and taut at the same time. A remarkable freshness at the end. A totally pleasurable wine, with the fruit, with its lovely expression of the region; in brief a Beaujolais village of a very high quality that we'd like to meet more often!