Winemakers Night - Philippe Pacalet - 14th February 2020

If Philippe Pacalet was to be described as a winemaker in his earlier days, the following would probably have been said about him: “An extremely charismatic, headstrong winemaker without vineyards”.  This is because Philippe Pacalet always had a vision! He is the grandson of Marcel Lapierre, the famous man of Beaujolais. Just like his uncle, he was inspired at a very early age by his role model Jules Chauvet, one of the founding fathers of “natural winery” with whom he spent his apprenticeship years. So he pursued his project quite single-mindedly and since 2001 he has been a wine producer at the Côte d’Or.  In 2007, the young winery moved into the cellars of an old winery that once belonged to the Hubert de Montille family.  In the meantime Philippe Pacalet has leased about ten hectares of vineyards in the Burgundy area.

The different plots are all cultivated by hand and according to his specifications.  For example, the grape umbels are not destemmed and the red wines are even soaked for a long time with stems and stalks in large wooden barrels.  The absence of sulphur during fermentation and the ageing in used barrels of Troncais oak are essential characteristics of his philosophy and vision. Thus his wines reach the intended quality level after 12 – 18 months.  “I simply want to produce good wine without much disruption of the process of its creation”, says Philippe Pacalet!

THE REGION: BURGUNDY

The Côte d’Or is located in the centre of what is probably the world’s most famous growing area, where the northern Côte de Nuits is distinguished from the southern Côte de Beaune.  Around Nuits, the fossil limestone dominates on which especially the Pinot Noir matures to perfection.  All around Beaune, the soil becomes marly, which is especially pleasing to the Chardonnay.  Burgundy also is known for the Chablis, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais.

Officially, the region of Beaujolais belongs to Burgundy, but you will not find Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  Instead, Gamay will be found almost exclusively.  In the northern part of the 15,000 hectare appellation, there are the ten Beaujolais crus such as Fleurie, Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent.  On hard granite, greywacke and slate soils, the Gamay produces the most fragrant and long-lasting wines.  Their quality has been underestimated for far too long.  These times are over, which is also evident from the fact that more and more important Burgundy wine makers are moving to Beaujolais.