Jacques Depagneux
The Society's Beaujolais-Villages Gamay
Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
From the Wine Society: This is the source of the bulk of our Beaujolais for the last 50 years, and many members will also have tried the fruits
of The Society’s work with this excellent Beaujolais-based négoce in the form of our bestselling white wine, The
Society’s White Burgundy, sourced from the Mâcon.
Dealing with a négociant allows The Wine Society to pick and choose, often blending together from different estates in
order to end up with a wine that is better than any of its parts.
Négoces have had a huge part to play in the recent history of Beaujolais, some of it not so good but some of it very
positive. For all its apparent simplicity, Beaujolais is a complicated region that is often the victim of its own capricious
climate with late frosts and violent hailstorms a common recurrence.
The one name that stands out for us is Dépagneux: Jean Dépagneux was the last of this illustrious merchant family
who, with his partners, bought up a list of ailing names such as Aujoux, which had made its name selling Beaujolais to
the once profitable Swiss market. Jean retired about a dozen years ago and his place was taken by a young and
talented oenologist from Viré called Jean-Marc Darbon. One consequence of the change has been the meteoric rise in
the quality of The Society’s White Burgundy.
From the Wine Society: This is the source of the bulk of our Beaujolais for the last 50 years, and many members will also have tried the fruits
of The Society’s work with this excellent Beaujolais-based négoce in the form of our bestselling white wine, The
Society’s White Burgundy, sourced from the Mâcon.
Dealing with a négociant allows The Wine Society to pick and choose, often blending together from different estates in
order to end up with a wine that is better than any of its parts.
Négoces have had a huge part to play in the recent history of Beaujolais, some of it not so good but some of it very
positive. For all its apparent simplicity, Beaujolais is a complicated region that is often the victim of its own capricious
climate with late frosts and violent hailstorms a common recurrence.
The one name that stands out for us is Dépagneux: Jean Dépagneux was the last of this illustrious merchant family
who, with his partners, bought up a list of ailing names such as Aujoux, which had made its name selling Beaujolais to
the once profitable Swiss market. Jean retired about a dozen years ago and his place was taken by a young and
talented oenologist from Viré called Jean-Marc Darbon. One consequence of the change has been the meteoric rise in
the quality of The Society’s White Burgundy.