Jasper Morris (Inside Burgundy) has said of Pauline Passot: "A dynamic Beaujolais producer on the rise, brilliant wines! A star discovery for me”. We felt exactly the same way when we first visited Domaine de la Grosse Pierre early in 2020. This young producer in Chiroubles had recently taken the reins of her family’s old-vine estate, and the wines she is producing from them had us all high-fiving in the car afterwards.

Passot’s family are no strangers to the region: her great-grandfather planted vines here in the 1940s and her parents established the domaine she now runs. After growing up on the estate, Pauline had a brief sojourn from Chiroubles with stints as a sommelier in Michelin-starred restaurants, followed by a vintage with Seresin in New Zealand, before returning to her Beaujolais roots and studying in Beaune. In 2018, she took over the day-to-day running of the family domaine, which consists of 7.7 ha in Chiroubles, 0.8 ha in Morgon and just half a hectare in Fleurie. All are farmed organically (certification is imminent) with some trials in biodynamics.

Pauline Passot makes all her wines the same way: no inputs during vinification; wild yeasts; semi-carbonic fermentations; and minimal, gentle pump-overs to ensure pure and undistorted infusion of the fruit. This discrete hand brings together a diverse range of wines all grown within a small area, but with distinctly different personalities from their terroir—from the vibrant, crunchy Chiroubles wines, through to the mineral/floral Fleurie and incredibly perfumed and deep Morgon. But best of all, the wines are modern Beaujolais through and through. They are pure and silky, bright, and unbelievably delicious.