Domaine Marcel Lapierre, Raisins Gaulois

The Raisins Gaulois is fun incarnate - drinking this wine offers indecent pleasure. You have to like a cheekily-monickered wine with a cartoon label of a geezer swallowing a bunch of grapes (evidently taking his wine in tablet form). Gummy Gamay, do not pass go, do not collect tannin, a redcurrant jam jamboree which just manages to steer clear of sweetness by virtue of a thwack of liquorice on the finish. You’re madder than Mad Jack McMad if you don’t serve this well chilled.

As recommended by Fiona Beckett, The Guardian, March 2013. "A perfect example [of a natural red wine] is Raisins Gaulois, a joyous, quaffable, beaujolais-like red from the Lapierre family, which cries out for a picnic or a plate of charcuterie."

Raisins Gaulois Gamay, natural wine, organic fruit, lip smacking, fun red from acclaimed Beaujolais family. From the famous Lapierre estate, now run by Marcel's son and daughter. This is superb fresh crunchy young Gamay, a wine that is ideal for summertime drinking with a picnic, or sat at the side of the road watching the bike race and munching some cheeses and salami with bread. It is fresh, vibrant and natural, and above all, fun to drink. The Gamay provides authentic Frenchness and little red fruits; carbonic maceration and low sulphur bring the wine alive and tingle on the tongue. Delicious stuff!

Marie Lapierre is the wife of Morgon's esteemed Marcel Lapierre, and Mathieu is their son. Together they work 13 hectares of vines and produce naturally made Gamay in and around Morgon. Aiming to express the terroir as fully as possible, these wines are made with limited intervention - low sulphur, organic viticulture since 1980 and natural fermentation. Harvest always takes place by hand. The grapes undergo semi-carbonic maceration, which is in keeping with the Beaujolais style. The soil is acidic granite which is poor in minerals, making the grapes work hard. Their wines are something of an oxymoron, as they are at once extremely good fun, bright, approachable and picnic-perfect; but also a real expression of terroir and serious winemaking. We love them.