Region: Beaujolais-Lantignié AOC, Beaujolais, France

Varietal: 100% Gamay

Producer:Domaine Dubost was established in 1902 and is now helmed by fourth-generation vigneron Jean-Paul Dubost, who took control of the family holdings in the mid-1990s and quietly set about doing something radical: making Beaujolais that demands to be taken seriously. He has been transitioning his vineyards to biodynamics since 2005, fermenting all wines with natural yeasts, and producing the crus without sulfur or other additions. Rather than imposing a house style, Jean-Paul's wines articulate with stark clarity their parcels and crus of origin — a philosophy that puts Lantignié, his home village, squarely in the spotlight.

Vineyard & Winemaking: The Lantignié wine is drawn from several parcels totaling around eight hectares surrounding the home village, planted in granitic and sandy soils on the surface over a sandstone subsoil — the kind of geology that gives Gamay an extra dimension of mineral snap and structure. Vines range from 35 to 50 years old depending on the parcel, planted at a high density of 10,000 vines per hectare. Vinification follows classic semi-carbonic maceration with whole clusters for 7 to 8 days, with no destemming, followed by aging in stainless steel and concrete tanks — no fining, just a light filtration before bottling.

Tasting Notes:The 2024 delivers everything the village promises and then some. It has a beautiful garnet red color with a bright, elegant nose of red fruit and wildflowers, and the palate is perfectly balanced — a smooth, fruity attack giving way to a fleshy, generous mid-palate before a finish that's powerfully aromatic and refreshingly crisp. Lantignié flanks Régnié and Morgon to the west and is widely considered the unofficial eleventh cru in waiting — and this wine makes a compelling case for the promotion. Joyful, mineral, and completely unsnobby about being both.