Jean-Claude Lapalu

Jean-Claude Lapalu is one of the most respected growers in Beaujolais and a quiet icon of the Paris wine scene. He farms the same old vines once tended by his father and grandfather, many of them between 50 and more than 100 years old.

From a late-19th-century vertical press to cellar work that remains resolutely hands-on, Lapalu balances heritage with a restless, forward energy. His wines honour Beaujolais tradition while pushing it into a more vivid and luminous register.