Jean-Claude Lapalu Alma Mater

Jean-Claude Lapalu Alma Mater is a natural monovarietal Gamay red wine. It is rated as a Vin de France de la Bourgogne and produced by Jean-Claude Lapalu.

Jean-Claude Lapalu comes from a family of Beaujolais winemakers. He conceives his work as kitchen-oenology, and seeks for his wine to become the pure reflection of the terroir. It does not add sulphur to the wine or chaptalise it by adding sugars to increase its alcohol content. He bottles when there is a full moon, uses natural corks and submits the wines to ageing in barrels made with oak from the Trotanoy forest. He cultivates about 12 hectares of vineyards organically, and the average age of the vines is around 40 years.

The vineyards for Jean-Claude Lapalu Alma Mater are about 60 years old and are planted in granitic and sandy soils. The plots face southeast and are cultivated without chemicals or herbicides; simply working their soils and cultivating them manually. They are harvested by hand in order to perform an initial selection of the best bunches while still in the field and to ensure the grapes arrive in the cellar as intact as possible.

Once vatted, Jean-Claude Lapalu Alma Mater macerates for a period of 40 to 50 days in 420 litre terracotta amphoras. Once fermented, the wine is aged in vats for 7 to 10 months and bottled without clarifying or filtering.

Jean-Claude Lapalu Alma Mater is a craft wine that is characterised by its lovely balance between fullness and delicacy. It is a rich and vivacious Beaujolais.