Dominique Piron

Born in 1950 in Morgon in the Beaujolais, Dominique Piron is the 14th known generation of a family of winegrowers in Morgon since 1590. After obtaining a D.U. in oenology from Dijon University in 1969, he gradually took over the family business.

In 1988, he was the first in Beaujolais to initiate grape purchasing, a practice now widespread everywhere, managing around 100 ha of vinification in the 2000s.

From the 2000s onwards, the Beaujolais region went through difficult times, with severe economic and human tensions, losing around 40% of its vineyards to uprooting in 15 years. That's why, with a few friends, he decided to devote his time to Interbeaujolais, which he chaired from 2016 to 2021.

In 2020, he spun off the "Vins Piron" business he had created, while retaining the family's 35 ha of vines, to create the new "Domaine du Vieux Bourg" winery in Corcelles en Beaujolais, still specializing in the Morgon appellation. The new winery is housed in the old village church.

Since 2016 he has chaired the association of Morgon producers - a Beaujolais Cru with 1100 ha of vines.

A motto. Build as if you were going to live 150 years and live as if you were going to die tomorrow!

In 1932, his great-grandfather Benoit Piron preferred to expand the Morgon vineyard by buying 4 hectares in Morgon with an old winemaker's house for "90,000 francs", rather than the 6.5 hectares of Clos de Tart in Burgundy for the same price! A poor choice! At the time, in the category of "corked" wines, as opposed to "café" wines, some Beaujolais Crus had the same reputation and the same price as wines from the Côte de Nuits in Burgundy.

The presentation of Beaujolais and its wines in March 2014 to the Chinese President, Xi Jiping at the Lyon Town Hall generated very substantial sales of Beaujolais in China for several years, thanks to photos.