The IT Guy, the Jura Mystic & Three Months on the Skins
A Lyon desk jockey who spent a decade juggling his IT job with midnight shifts at Jean-Marc Brignot's press in the Jura — learning to work slowly, to press slowly, and to trust the wine completely. In 2015 Sébastien Morin bought 1.5 hectares of old Gamay in Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières, just yards from his cellar door. His partner Maï Lam joined him, and together they make Gamays of real depth and savouriness — deeper and earthier than their neighbours, but incredibly satiating.
Origin — From the Lyon Desk to the Jura Press
Sébastien Morin's journey to becoming a winemaker began in the early 2000s after a chance encounter with Jean-Marc Brignot, the legendary Jura vigneron who has since become near-mythical in natural wine circles. A friendship blossomed, and Séb spent much of the next decade juggling his desk job in Lyon — he worked in IT — with travelling to the Jura to observe and assist in the Brignot cellar.
He is counted as one of the very privileged few to stand with Jean-Marc at the press, often throughout the night, and although he has certainly forged his own style, he does not deny he has been greatly influenced by the master. The lessons were not technical so much as philosophical: work gently, press slowly, let the wine find its own way, and never add anything that isn't already in the grape.
In 2015 he took the plunge. He bought 1.5 hectares of old-vine Gamay in Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières, in the southern Beaujolais, just yards from his cellar door. The scale is tiny — microscopic by commercial standards — but it allows for a keen eye on every vine, every cluster, every ferment. His partner Maï Lam joined him, and the domaine is now a true collaboration.
It also turns out that Justine Saint-Lô — sister of François Saint-Lô and illustrator of his labels — used to babysit Sébastien's child while he was living in Lyon. The connections within France's natural wine community run deep, personal, and often surprising.
The Place — Old Vines on Deep Granite
Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières sits in the southern Beaujolais, where the granite soils are deep and the valley opens to the west. The 1.5 hectares of Gamay are old — 35 to 65 years, some older — planted mostly on deep granite soils that give the wines their signature depth and savouriness. The scale is tiny, but the attention is absolute.
1.5 Hectares, Total Attention
The vineyard is small enough that Sébastien and Maï know every vine. Working at this scale has allowed for a keen eye on the life of the parcels — pristine fruit at harvest despite the challenges of exceptionally hot and dry growing seasons. The yields are low; the quality is high.
Organic & Biodynamic
The vines are farmed organically and biodynamically — no pesticides, no chemicals, no synthetic products. The approach is gentle and observational, in the Brignot tradition. The soils are worked lightly; the vines are allowed to find their own balance.
Deep Granite, Savoury Fruit
The granite soils of Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières give a distinctive character to the Gamay: deeper, earthier, more savoury than the lighter carbonic styles of the north. The wines have structure, tannin, and a mineral backbone that speaks of the stone beneath the vines.
Neighbourhood of Natural Wine
Romain des Grottes is next door. The community is small, collaborative, and fiercely independent. These are not winemakers who compete — they share equipment, knowledge, and sometimes grapes. The difficult 2021 vintage saw Sébastien sourcing fruit from friends around Beaujolais and south-west France to keep the cellar full.
Winemaking — Destemmed, Three Months, Gravity & Zero
Sébastien's cellar work is a direct inheritance from Jean-Marc Brignot, adapted to the Gamay of the southern Beaujolais. The grapes are mostly destemmed — a departure from the whole-bunch tradition of much of Beaujolais — and the macerations are long, lasting around three months. This is not carbonic maceration; this is slow, patient extraction of colour, tannin, and savoury complexity from the skins.
The manual press is painstakingly slow, in classic Jean-Marc fashion, lasting most of the day. All racking is done via gravity — no pumping, no pushing, no forcing. The wines are then aged in fiberglass tanks or old barrels, with no temperature control, no fining, no filtration, and no additions of any kind.
The result is Gamay that is definitely deeper and earthier than the wines from his immediate neighbours — less juicy glouglou, more structured, savoury, and profound. These are wines that give pleasure and profundity in equal amounts, wines that will age with aplomb, wines that demand a glass and a moment of attention.
The Wines — Deep, Perfumed, Totally Individual Gamay
A focused range of red Gamays, one sparkling, and occasional whites — all from old vines, all with long macerations, all pressed slowly by hand, all gravity-racked, all bottled with zero additions. Wines that are already very good, and will be even better with a few years in bottle.
Arcane
Estate red (flagship)100% Gamay from 35- to 65-year-old vines on granite and sandy soils. 4 months of skin contact, vinified and aged in fiberglass. Destemmed, long maceration, slow manual press, gravity racking. No additions. Raspberries, dark cherries, forest fruit, a wonderful energy and great vibrations. The cuvée that caught the attention of London — light on its feet but deep and savoury.
Easy Game
Estate red100% organically cultivated Gamay. Hand-harvested, 2 weeks' maceration followed by a long, slow press to neutral vessel for élevage. Medium ruby with a waxy visual; waxy red fruits — cherry, hints of violet, earthy stemmy notes. Bright cherry and refreshing watermelon flavours. Juicy, vibrant, and immediately appealing — the approachable face of long maceration.
Paradoxe
Estate red (collaboration cuvée)100% biodynamically cultivated Gamay by Séb Morin & Maï Lam. Hand-harvested from a 70+ year-old plot on sandy granitic soils. Long maceration, slow press, gravity racking, zero additions. Deep, textural, and savoury — a wine that embodies the paradox of the southern Beaujolais: old vines, gentle hands, profound results.
Nous Encore
Estate red100% Gamay from domaine fruit. Vegetal, stemmy, with a wild edge — the kind of wine that reminds you Gamay is not always polite. Long maceration, slow press, gravity racking, zero sulfur. A wine of conviction and character, for those who like their natural wine with a little bit of attitude.
L'Entremetteuse
Méthode ancestrale sparkling100% Gamay, méthode ancestrale — bottled while still fermenting, sealed under crown cap, resting on lees for two years prior to disgorgement. No additions, no dosage, no filtration. Fresh, fruity, and alive — a pet-nat of rare precision and patience, made in the Brignot tradition of letting the wine finish its own conversation.
La Nuit Aussi
Estate whiteA white cuvée from the difficult 2021 vintage — Sébastien sourced grapes from friends around Beaujolais and south-west France when his own harvest was hit by frost and mildew. Fresh peach and pear at first, opening with overripe pear, pencil, honey, and celery. A wine born of necessity, made with the same long maceration and zero-addition philosophy.
Voyage à Deux
Estate redA collaboration cuvée — the journey of two. Gamay from old vines, long maceration, slow press, gravity racking. The name nods to the partnership of Sébastien and Maï, and to the shared road of natural winemaking. Deep, perfumed, and totally individual — a wine that will age with aplomb.
Toi Je Sais
Estate red100% Gamay — "You, I know." A wine of intimacy and certainty, made from the domaine's oldest parcels. Long maceration, slow manual press, gravity racking, zero additions. The structure of the 2019s — deep, perfumed, and totally individual renditions of the Gamay grape. For drinking now or cellaring for a decade.
Legacy — The Brignot Lineage in the Beaujolais
Sébastien Morin represents a rare thing in natural wine: a direct lineage. He is one of the very few people to have spent a decade at the side of Jean-Marc Brignot, learning not from books or courses but from midnight presses and gravity rackings. The influence is unmistakable — the long macerations, the slow presses, the absolute refusal to add anything to the wine — but Sébastien has not copied. He has adapted the Jura philosophy to the Gamay of the southern Beaujolais, and the result is something entirely his own.
In just over a decade he has built a tiny but profoundly respected domaine — 1.5 hectares of old vines, a handful of cuvées, and a waiting list of importers from London to Tokyo. The wines are deep, earthy, and savoury — not the light carbonic glouglou that has come to define modern Beaujolais, but something older, more serious, more Brignot.
With Maï Lam now sharing the work, and a community of young natural winemakers growing around Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières, the future is bright. The IT guy who pressed grapes at midnight in the Jura has become one of the most individual voices in French natural wine. The press is slow. The wine is worth the wait.