Jean-Claude Lapalu

Based in Saint-Étienne-la-Varenne, at the heart of the Beaujolais-Villages, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly appellations, Jean-Claude Lapalu was born into a family of winegrowers. He represents the third generation to farm the family's vineyards. Historically, the estate's grapes were sold to the local cooperative, and when Jean-Claude took over the family estate in 1982, he continued selling grapes for a decade.

The 1993 vintage marked his turning point: he began vinifying his own grapes and bottling wine under his own name. Inspired partly by the writings of Jules Chauvet and by tasting natural wines across France, he turned quickly to natural vinification, becoming part of the pioneering generation that helped reshape Beaujolais alongside Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, and Yvon Métras. By the late 1990s, his wines set the bar for the region’s new generation.

From the mid-2000s, he gradually shifted from leasing to owning his vineyards, gaining full control to farm and extending biodiversity to its maximum. Today the domaine spans just over 10 hectares, all certified organic.

Jean-Claude has always been drawn to vineyards with the greatest freshness potential. In Brouilly, he owns some of the highest-elevation parcels. In Côte de Brouilly his vineyards lie on the cooler north-facing side of the hill. Combined with early picking to preserve acidity and a vinification style built to protect the crispness of the fruit, Lapalu produces some of the freshest expressions of his appellations. 

In the cellar, fermentations are spontaneous, and the grapes are gently pressed in a traditional vertical press dating to the late 19th century. There are no additives at all and no filtration. Depending on the cuvée, some have zero sulfites added, others see only a tiny touch of SO2 to ensure a clean and precise taste. The result is remarkably pure, energetic and taut wines with a distinctive freshness and a profound sense of place.