On Oct 12, 5:59*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Dead at 60 from cancer:
>
> <http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20101012-pioneering-natural-wine-mak...>
>
> It is almost impossible to overstate his importance to the world of
> wine. *As a disciple of Jules Chauvet, he pioneered the resurgence of
> Beaujolais, spearheading Kermit Lynch's "Gang of Four (Five)" of
> quality-orinented traditionalists in the Beaujolais. *He also led the
> movement toward "natural wine" that has now taken hold in Europe and has
> begun to gain traction in the USA.
>
> On a personal level, I had one of my most memorable winery visits in
> 2001 at the residence of M. Lapierre. *We spent the entire afternoon in
> his cave tasting barrel samples (he made one wine then) and his proposed
> assemblage for that year's wine. *We tasted 17 samples, I believe,
> including a head-to-head comparison of two samples of the same wine, one
> of which had been treated with SO2, the other of which hadn't. *The
> differences were astonishing, with the unsulfured wine showing fresher
> and more fruity. *At the end of this orgy of wine, we exited to his
> courtyard where he treated us to fresh-baked bread and artisanal
> charcuterie that he'd brought back from the Netherlands which we washed
> down with some of his wine. *I trace my love affair with quality Cru
> Beaujolais to that day.
>
> M. Lapierre, you will be missed.
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Sad news, truly a giant