David Chapel and Michele Smith met in 2013 while Michele, former wine director of restaurant Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, in Brooklyn, NY visited Domaine Lapierre while on a wine trip in Beaujolais. David had been working in the vineyards and cellar at the domaine in Villé-Morgon at the time and when Matthieu Lapierre was unable to host Michele’s visit, he sent David instead. After living together for a few years in NYC, the decision was made to move back to Beaujolais in 2015 and move forward with plans tofarm and vinify their own wine and start their own winery, Domaine Chapel.

David, the son of acclaimed chef Alain Chapel, was naturally inclined to become a craftsman.

In the 1980’s, his father Alain Chapel, would often host winemakers and build menus to pair with their wines. He forged friendships with the likes of Jules Chauvet, Marcel Lapierre, Pierre Overnoy, Gerard Chave and many other vigneron from his native Savoie to Burgundy and the Northern Rhône. He appreciated the company of people who were extraordinary at their craft and shed light on their work by featuring their bottles on his wine list, at the time a 3-star restaurant. The vigneron were friends that he cooked meals for and was an early appreciator of “natural wines.” David grew up in this unique environment, above the kitchen of Restaurant Alain Chapel and his view of life, farming and winemaking was sculpted by these experiences. He worked his first harvest in the Beaujolais in 2005 at the winery of Marcel Lapierre and again in 2006 at the winery of Christophe Pacalet.

His career in wine & cuisine continued at his family’s restaurant in both France and Japan and later in NYC.

In addition to the wines of Domaine Chapel, made from wines farmed by David and Michele, they have created Smith-Chapel, a range of négoçiant wines from organically farmed vines on the slopes of Beaujolais and the nearby Mâconnais region.

Their lieu-dit, Charbonnières, in Fleurie sits at 460 meters in altitude and it’s steep slopes are planted to high density, free-standing gobelet vines ranging in age from 30-60 years old. The land has been farmed organically for nearly 20 years and due to the steepness and proximity to the forest, it is by far the most labor intensive of all their parcels. The vines are completely enclosed by the forest which forms a clos, giving protection from the strong winds and also bringing some outside challenges. These namely being from the thick grasses, acacia trees & bramble bushes which wrap themselves around the cep and grow sporadically throughout the vines in a deep rooting system. These are removed by hand several times throughout the year to protect an equilibrium in the vineyard. The rest of the flora and fauna in the vines is left to grow and gives their Fleurie its unique character.

In 2022, they planted fruit trees throughout the vines to further foster an environment of biodiversity and promote the health of the soil.

David and Michele farm several plots in their hillside vineyards of Fleurie and Chiroubles over 4 hectares. Working organically in the vineyards is time and labor intensive. Their old vines holdings, planted densely in the gobelet style (little bush vines) ensures all vineyard work must be done by hand with the pioche (garden hoe) or with a cable plough (sort of like a horse and plough pulled by a human, not for the faint of heart). In Fleurie, their vines are surrounded by forest, so growth comes from every direction - whether it’s working the soil, pioching the weeds, planting cover crops or tying unruly foliage together - Michele and David have commited to this labor of love fully.

Often, whole cluster bunches are left intact and go through a semi-carbonic maceration using their indigenous yeasts as advised by Jules Chauvet, to showcase the individuality and terroir of each parcel. Protected by CO2, the grapes ferment as whole berries for 2-3 weeks in a closed vat. The fermentation is carefully monitored and tasted daily to determine the day of pressing. The free run juice is separated just before the remaining berries are pressed in a vertical Vaslin pressoir. An assemblage is later made from the tire or free run and the pressed juice. The wines are returned to their vat and finish fermentation in the spring when the temperature warms naturally. They are racked one month before bottling and bottled unfined and unfiltered before the summer heat arrives.