Clos Vieux Bourg Morgon Cinq Terres by Dominique Piron 2022

If you’re a fan of Beaujolais’ finest wines then Clos Vieux Bourg Morgon Cinq Terres is one to leap on. It’s an intense, velvety Morgon with four years’ age, as good as cru Burgundy, and it comes with an amazing story too.

Beaujolais fans may well have heard the name Dominique Piron before. He was a top winemaker of Beaujolais, President of the region for five years and still President of Morgon, one of its finest crus. He’s a legend with 14 generations of winemaking behind him.

In 2020, aged 70, Dominique decided it was time to retire and sold his négociant business. This turned out to be a mistake! He was soon bored … and three years later, at 73, he decided to start a new domaine. Without telling anyone. He called it Clos Vieux Bourg.

He bought a 9th-century chapel and converted into a beautiful winery before starting doing what he loved: making wine. His grapes come from family vineyards that Dominique had wisely kept – a patchwork of plots in some of Beaujolais’ finest terroirs.

Morgon has always been a Piron specialty and his Cinq Terres really delivers. As the name suggests its grapes, all Gamay, are from five plots – Le Brye, Le Clachet, Les Chollets, Les Algullas and Terrains Rouges. All are at least 60 years old, so yields are naturally low and the fruit is beautifully concentrated. The wines express each terroir, while Dominique expertly blends the parcels to create a perfectly balanced red.

It’s silky and intense, with black fruit and violet aromas, with hints of minerality, followed by plenty of freshness and black plum and bramble fruit and touches of warm spice and black pepper. This is the perfect red to enjoy with roast chicken or wild mushroom dishes.