Raphaël Beysang: To Create an Identity in the South Beaujolais
Raphaël Beysang: To Create an Identity in the South Beaujolais
A chat with Alsatian-born South Beaujolais vigneron Raphaël Beysang, co-founder, along with his cohorts at Team Sud Bojo, of the upcoming Ah! Ah! Ah! salon in Oignt.
South Beaujolais vigneron Raphaël Beysang cuts an unusual figure the region, firstly for being from Alsace, secondly for being a towering, top-knotted centurion with an overflowing beard and perpetual grin. Alongside his Quebecoise partner Emilie Hurtubise, he farms 4.5ha1 in Saint Germain-Nuelles, working out of a cellar the couple acquired from retiring natural vigneron Nicolas Dubost.
The son of hotel owners in Châtenois2, Beysang went to viticultural school in Obernai, before working for Nothalten natural wine legend Patrick Meyer. (His fellow student and coworker in both pursuits was future Rosheim vigneron Jean-Marc Dreyer, who remains a close friend and collaborator.) By the mid-2010s, Beysang was working in Auvergne, for Vincent Marie and Patrick Bouju; it was at the latter’s cellar that he and Hurtubise met, when she arrived for her own internship in 2016.
Today Beysang and Hurtubise are integral members of Team Sud Bojo, an informal collective of radical natural vignerons in the south Beaujolais who are organizing a new wine salon this April, the perplexingly-named Le Ah! Ah! Ah! (The explanation follows below.) With it, Team Sud Bojo aims to promote the promise of south Beaujolais in the natural wine world - and to promote natural wine itself within the conservative Lyonnais suburbs of the south Beaujolais.
RAPHAEL BEYSANG: AN INTERVIEW
The following interview was conducted on the phone on Feb. 25th, 2024. It has been condensed and edited for clarity.