It was fall when we first tasted with Gilles Paris, and while the weather had been pleasantly mild during our trip, we awoke to overcast skies and a dreary sprinkle. It did us no favors that we had spent the previous night partying in the depths of an undisclosed Ardèchois cellar before sobering up with a mediocre truck stop burger and some of the worst coffee rural France had on offer to make the four-hour drive from Montélimar to Villié-Morgon. Needless to say, we were a bit weary at this particular meeting. At first sight, Gilles Paris appears burly and maybe even gruff, but his wide, infectious smile quickly belies his amicable nature. His welcoming aura broke the ice and soon gave us the hint that this visit would be a fruitful one. After touring the cellar where Gilles vinifies with his brother, Jérôme, whose wines we also have on offer, we hitched a ride in Gilles’ windowless white van to visit his Fleurie home to see the vines, enjoy a  casse-croûte, and talk shop. While tasting his wines over a simple and delicious brunch of steak and salad, the energy and sapidity of his naturally vinified wines became apparent. Simply put, these were gems, and we were confused as to why these wines were hardly to be found in the United States. Gilles, after all, is a contemporary of the legendary Marcel Lapierre and ran in his circles before Lapierre’s death. Despite that fact, he remains relatively unknown especially when compared to Lapierre’s closest compatriots who are at this point internationally renowned.

This may partly have to do with Gilles’s temperament - he is a supremely kind man and one who keeps his head down and stays busy with the humble work of the paysan-vigneron. The details and whereabouts of Gilles’ (and Jérôme’s for that matter) vinification had become notoriously mysterious.

As we met him the story unraveled. We soon discovered that he was from a winemaking family in Quincié-en-Beaujolais. He has moved facilities several times over the years and was even vinifying for some time in the cellar of “Le Chat” Jean-Claude Chanudet before moving to his current location in Fleurie. 

Gilles farms organically, with some parcels receiving certification and others in conversion. He has devoted more time to full organic conversion since his tenure as Beaujolais Interprofession president ended in 2016. Most of Gilles’ vines are in Chiroubles, and the singularity of the cru’s steep slopes combined with storm exposure and high vine density create unique disease pressures that make the cru perhaps the hardest to work manually in all of Beaujolais. Nevertheless, Gilles remains principled in his gentle approach. He practices semi-carbonic maceration without destemming and pre-refrigeration of the whole clusters. Most cuvées see a maceration of around two weeks - sometimes longer. Sulfur is rarely used in vinification, and most often the wines are produced without the addition of sulfur at all. They are bottled without filtration. These are delicious, energetic, and classic Beaujolais whose low-sulfite, unfiltered goodness are not to be missed!