The Hyena's Head & the Morgon Hand
Anthony Thévenet is one of the most exciting young talents of the reinvigorated Beaujolais — a fourth-generation vigneron based in Villié-Morgon who apprenticed for seven years with Georges Descombes and five years as Jean Foillard's right-hand man before striking out on his own in 2013. Known locally by the nickname "Nioche" — derived from "Tête d'Hyène" (Hyena's Head), a comment on his easy laughter — Anthony farms ~8.5 hectares of organically tended vineyards across Morgon, Chénas, and Beaujolais-Villages, including 150-year-old vines in the Douby climat and 80+ year-old vines on the legendary Côte du Py. His father, Guy, left a career as a Mercedes mechanic to join him; his 74-year-old grandmother still works the harvest. Anthony's philosophy is one of radical organicism and meticulous observation: no chemicals, no herbicides, hand-weeding with a metal horse, purin d'orties (macerated nettles) for vine health, and whole-bunch carbonic maceration in concrete vats with no sulfites until bottling. The result is Morgon of extraordinary lift, structure, and delicate complexity — wines that taste of the sandy granite of Douby, the schist of Côte du Py, and the patient, passionate hand of a young man who believes great wine must be from the heart.
Descombes, Foillard & the Mercedes Mechanic
The story of Anthony Thévenet begins in Villié-Morgon, where he was born into a family of winegrowers — the fourth generation to work the vines of the Beaujolais crus. Though his father Guy chose a different career as a Mercedes mechanic, Anthony grew up surrounded by vines and always wanted to be a winemaker. He went to viticulture school, then continued his education alongside some of the finest winemakers in the region. Between 2005 and 2012, he worked part-time for seven years with Georges Descombes — one of the founding fathers of organic viticulture in Beaujolais — an apprenticeship that came about through his school friend Damien Coquelet, Descombes' stepson. He then spent five years as Jean Foillard's right-hand man, absorbing the precision, patience, and natural philosophy of one of Beaujolais' true luminaries.
In 2013, Anthony took the reins of his family's vineyard, producing his first vintage that same year. He inherited around two hectares of vines in the Douby climat of Morgon from his grandfather and immediately began conversion to organic agriculture. A year later, in 2014, he took over another hectare on Morgon's famous Côte du Py — a parcel that had been in the family since his grandfather's inheritance from his grandfather's mother. His inaugural vintage attracted immediate attention, and his 2016 release solidified his position as a master of Gamay. That same year, devastating hail destroyed the majority of his production — a trial by fire that tested his skills and resolve. But Anthony persisted, and in 2017 he added parcels in Chénas and Beaujolais-Villages, expanding his range and his voice.
Soon after Anthony started his eponymous domaine, his father Guy left his job to join him full-time. Anthony jokes that the departure was allegedly because his father loved nature and longed to be outdoors, but in reality it was because he truly believed in Anthony's organic vision and was drawn to be a part of it. The elder Thévenet is now technically retired, but he is still onsite, working amongst the vines in the baking sun and joining tastings in the cooler confines of the cellar. Anthony's 74-year-old grandmother also still works the harvest and helps tend the more than 150 rose plants that are planted throughout the domaine. It is a family affair in the truest sense — three generations, one vision, and a shared conviction that great wine must be from the heart.
"I used to love to pretend to drive the tractor as a kid. I was crazy for the vines. And now these vines are my babies."
— Anthony Thévenet
Douby, Côte du Py & the Granite Heart
The estate is centred on Morgon, probably the most celebrated of the Beaujolais crus, with parcels scattered across Douby, Côte du Py, and Corcellettes, plus vineyards in Chénas and Beaujolais-Villages (Lancié). The total surface is approximately 8.5 hectares, all planted to Gamay. The soils are predominantly granite — sandy, rocky granite in Douby and Corcellettes that brings elegance and aromatic lift, and the famously hard schist and metamorphic rock of the Côte du Py that creates powerful, concentrated wines with pronounced mineral and metallic nuances. In Chénas, the soils are deep pink granite sand and gravel, known for producing wines with rose aromas and great aromatic intensity.
The Douby climat is where Anthony's family vines have been for generations. The soils here are sandy granite — the roche friable — which creates wines of keen, fruity elegance that drink well without aggression. The Côte du Py is a different world entirely: a rounded, freestanding hill of extremely hard metamorphic rock, mostly schist, with very little topsoil. The bedrock is impossibly hard and spare, making for powerful wines with more defined lines and deeper core concentration than the granite terroirs. Anthony's Côte du Py vines are over 80 years old, and there is a richness with dense but pointed exotic fruit despite the intense focus. The centenaire vines in Douby are thought to be about 150 years old — possibly older. They were there when his great-grandparents acquired the land, and Anthony estimates they will only be productive for another half-decade. He is wistful about the thought of replacing them.
Anthony farms strictly organic, though not certified. He rejects all synthetic chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides, using only copper and sulfur — both legal for organic and biodynamic farming and accepted practices in the natural wine community. He does everything he can by hand, including weed removal with the help of their metal horse — a small tractor used to pull a metal blade that they walk behind and guide by hand, isolating weeds and barely skimming the topsoil to have as little impact as possible on the beneficial microbes and insects only inches below the surface. He carefully monitors the microbes in the soils and creates his own biodynamic treatments to keep vines healthy, using copious amounts of purin d'orties — an organic treatment made from macerated nettles. He has even commissioned a local company to make his own fertiliser. He encourages a thick canopy of leaves on his vines to protect the grapes from the intense sun, and prefers to work in the early morning hours to keep the freshness and minimise heat stress.
Anthony Thévenet is based in Villié-Morgon, in the heart of the Beaujolais crus, Burgundy, France. His vineyards are scattered across the Morgon climats of Douby, Côte du Py, and Corcellettes, with additional parcels in Chénas and Beaujolais-Villages (Lancié). The property is accessible from Mâcon, Lyon, and the A6 motorway, and lies within one of the most historically significant and commercially dynamic wine regions of France. The surrounding landscape is a patchwork of granite hills, schist outcrops, and ancient Gamay vines that have defined Beaujolais viticulture for centuries. Villié-Morgon is the administrative centre of the Morgon cru, a village of deep wine culture and natural wine heritage, situated near the cellars of Lapierre, Foillard, and Dutraive.
The Thévenet terroir is defined by geological diversity. In Douby and Corcellettes, the soils are sandy, rocky granite — the roche friable — which creates wines of elegance, aromatic lift, and keen fruit. The Côte du Py is a rounded, freestanding hill of extremely hard metamorphic rock, mostly schist, with very little topsoil. The bedrock is impossibly hard and spare, making for powerful wines with more defined lines, deeper core concentration, and pronounced stony, mineral, and metallic nuances. In Chénas, the soils are deep pink granite sand and gravel, known for producing wines with rose aromas and great aromatic intensity. This geological patchwork, combined with the semi-continental climate of long, hot summers and cold winters, creates a microclimate of extraordinary clarity and balance — warm enough to ripen Gamay fully, cool enough to preserve the acidity and mineral precision that define the estate's style.
Anthony Thévenet farms his vineyards according to strict organic principles, rejecting all synthetic herbicides, fungicides, and chemical fertilisers. He uses only copper and sulfur, both legal for organic farming. He does everything by hand, including weed removal with the help of a metal horse — a small tractor pulling a metal blade that they walk behind and guide by hand, isolating weeds and barely skimming the topsoil to preserve beneficial microbes and insects. He carefully monitors soil microbes and creates his own biodynamic treatments, using copious amounts of purin d'orties (macerated nettles) to keep vines healthy and nourished. He has commissioned a local company to make his own fertiliser. He encourages a thick canopy of leaves to protect grapes from intense sun, and prefers to work in the early morning hours to minimise heat stress. The result is a living vineyard where old vines, granite and schist soils, and native flora coexist in a rhythm of minimal chemical intervention and maximum natural health.
The old vines at Thévenet are the patrimony of the estate. The centenaire vines in Douby are thought to be about 150 years old — possibly older. They were there when his great-grandparents acquired the land, but there was no documentation about the vines as they were part of a simple marriage contract. Anthony estimates these vines will only be productive for another half-decade, and is wistful about the thought of replacing them. The Côte du Py vines are over 80 years old, with gnarled, disorderly branches straining across the rows. These ancient vines produce tiny quantities of extraordinarily concentrated fruit. The 150-year-old Douby vines and the 80-year-old Côte du Py vines are the backbone of the estate's most profound expressions — wines of depth, concentration, and a patience that transcends the vintage. They are not treated as commodities but as living history, as gifts from the past that demand humility and reverence.
Concrete, Infusion & the Barrel-Evolution Hand
For Anthony Thévenet, the cellar is a place of precision, observation, and minimal intervention. All wines are vinified by whole-bunch carbonic fermentation — whole clusters placed in concrete vats, saturated with carbon dioxide to avoid oxidation and foster yeast activity. The fermentations last for 10 to 25 days depending on the vintage and the cuvée, with no pumping — everything is performed by gravity. Anthony employs "infusion" fermentations, meaning little to no movement of the grapes while fermenting, allowing the juice to draw colour, tannin, and flavour gently and naturally from the skins. No sulfites are added at any stage of vinification — only a minimal amount at bottling, and even then rarely more than 2 grams per hectolitre.
There are no cultured yeasts used in the cellar. All wines complete malolactic fermentation naturally. There are no finings and no filtrations. For ageing, Anthony avoids new oak completely in favour of small used barrels and large 600-litre demi-muids, which he says are perfect for "just rounding the wine and keeping the fruity side." He meticulously monitors the ageing process, testing the wines monthly to see how they change, and even ageing the same parcel in barrels of different age to watch the effects on the wine. "I love to follow the evolution of the wines in the barrel," he says. "It really lets me know where the wines are… and where they need to go."
The basic Morgon is made from young-vine Douby and Corcellettes fruit, aged in concrete, and sometimes receives a light fining before bottling — a cuvée designed for earlier drinking and immediate pleasure. The Morgon Vieilles Vignes is a blend of two older Douby parcels — one aged 80–90 years, the other 150 years — aged in barrel, unfiltered, and built for the cellar. The Côte du Py is the estate's most powerful wine: tannic, forceful, and deeply mineral, befitting the reputation of the climat. The Chénas cuvées — from younger vines and from very old vines on deep pink granite sand — offer a more aromatic, lifted expression. And the Beaujolais-Villages from Lancié provides a joyful, crunchy introduction to the Thévenet style.
Anthony's winemaking is precise and focused. Temperature control is critical to him — he prefers concrete vats for their thermal stability. He harvests relatively early to preserve freshness and acidity, even in hot vintages. His goal is to create light, fruit-driven wines that capture the essence of the terroir — wines that are very delicate but at the same time very complex, combining lift, structure, and a little something special. He manages to create both the traditional style of Beaujolais with his old-vine cuvées, and a more modern lifted style with the younger vines. It is a balancing act that few young vignerons master, and Anthony has mastered it with extraordinary grace.
Whole-Bunch Carbonic, Concrete & the No-Sulfite Rule
The guiding principle of Anthony Thévenet is that the wine is made by the vineyard, spoken by the organically farmed old vines of Morgon, and protected by the minimum possible intervention. The organic farming provides healthy, complex grapes. The hand harvest provides pristine fruit. The whole-bunch carbonic maceration in concrete vats provides the fresh, fruity, floral character that defines great Beaujolais, while the infusion method provides gentle extraction and purity. The indigenous yeasts provide spontaneous, site-specific fermentation. The small used barrels and 600-litre demi-muids provide respectful ageing that rounds the wine without imposing woody flavour. The absence of sulfites during vinification, and the minimal addition at bottling, provides a wine that tastes of Morgon granite and schist, not of the laboratory. And the meticulous monthly monitoring provides the honesty and transparency that define the Thévenet style. The cellar is not a factory; it is a quiet continuation of the hillside — a place where concrete patience, barrel evolution, and the refusal to standardise translate Gamay fruit into wine that is honest, nourishing, and unmistakably of its place.
Morgon, Côte du Py & the Centenaire Hand
Anthony Thévenet produces a focused portfolio of red and rosé wines from organically farmed estate and leased vineyards in Morgon, Chénas, and Beaujolais-Villages. The range is built entirely around Gamay — with the exception of a single Chardonnay — with each cuvée representing a different level of the appellation pyramid and a different expression of the granite and schist terroir. All wines share a common foundation: hand-harvested grapes from organic vineyards, whole-bunch carbonic maceration in concrete vats, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, ageing in used barrels and demi-muids, and bottling with minimal or no sulphur, no fining, and no filtration. The result is a range that is as honest as it is complex: each cuvée a different facet of the same Beaujolais landscape, each vintage a new conversation between vine, stone, and the meticulous hand.
Villié-Morgon & the Hyena's Hand
Anthony Thévenet is not merely a winery; he is a proof that a young man, armed with seven years at Descombes, five years at Foillard, and a family of three generations in the vines, can become one of the most exciting talents of the reinvigorated Beaujolais. In an era when the region is still recovering from the industrial conventions of the late 20th century — when carbonic maceration was often a mask for poor farming, and Beaujolais Nouveau was a commodity rather than an expression of place — Anthony has demonstrated that the same Douby can produce both youthful joy and centenaire depth, the same Côte du Py can be both forceful and refined, and the same Chénas can offer both rose perfume and structural gravitas — if the farming is organic, the cellar is a place of observation rather than manipulation, and the philosophy is one of no chemicals, no sulfites until bottling, and profound respect for the vine.
The legacy of Anthony Thévenet is the legacy of agricultural passion and family solidarity. Anthony does not enter his vineyards to dominate them; he enters them to observe, to walk behind the metal horse with his father, to spray purin d'orties with his grandmother, and to accept that the granite and the schist will dictate the vintage. The 150-year-old vines are not treated as commodities but as living history, as gifts from the past that demand humility and reverence. The Côte du Py is not a trophy site but a spiritual anchor — a reminder that wine has been made here for centuries, and that the best wines are those that serve the land rather than the market. And the Cuvée Julia, named for his daughter, is not a gimmick but a statement of hope — a commitment to the next generation and a refusal to let the old ways die.
The future of the estate is tied to the future of Morgon and the old vines that Anthony, his father, and his grandmother continue to tend with organic patience. As the 150-year-old Douby vines accumulate their final decade of wisdom, as the Côte du Py proves that schist can be both powerful and elegant, and as the Chénas finds its audience among drinkers seeking aromatic lift and mineral depth, Anthony Thévenet remains what he has always intended to be: a vigneron who makes living wines — delicate, complex, and deeply tied to the granite and schist of Villié-Morgon. The story of Anthony Thévenet is the story of a young man who looked at his grandfather's vines and saw not a burden, but a destiny — and who proved that the best bottle from Beaujolais is the one that needs no explanation, only a glass, a meal, and the patience to let the hyena laugh.
"Making wine is a passion. If someone is just searching for money, its not possible. Great wine must be from the heart."
— Anthony Thévenet