Beaujolais
Vintage image sourced on The Nifty Fifties
November has indelibly become the month of Beaujolais. Thanks to Georges Duboeuf’s marketing promotion in the 1970s, Beaujolais Nouveau, a particular style of Beaujolais, is celebrated every third Thursday in November with cries of “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” and a lot of wine. Not all of it good. In fact, most of it not.
But there’s so much more to Beaujolais than Nouveau. I won’t say that Beaujolais Nouveau is horrible, since there are some that are decent, but in this tasting, we’re going to focus on Beaujolais that’s not Nouveau. The good stuff. Specifically, the crus.
Stuff to know
Beaujolais (boh-zho-lay) wines are all made from Gamay (or Gamay Noir), a Burgundian grape variety related to Pinot Noir that doesn’t get anywhere near the same love and attention as its more famous relation. In fact, Gamay was so maligned that it was banned from its original homeland in 1395 by Philippe the Bold, who cast Gamay out from the Duchy of Bourgogne, calling it a “horrible” grape and relegating it to vineyards in the south, Beaujolais.
But Gamay did just fine in Beaujolais, with its granite and clay soils that restrict Gamay’s tendencies toward growing wild, since Gamay is a much hardier variety than Pinot Noir and tends to taste boring when let loose to grow like a weed. Technically, Beaujolais is still part of Burgundy today, but aside from administrative purposes, Beaujolais is entirely its own thing.
Beaujolais has had its ups and downs in terms of reputation over the years though. In the 1970s, Georges Duboeuf created a marketing campaign for Beaujolais Nouveau, a style of wine that’s just barely wine. It’s the harvest wine, an extremely young, juice-like wine that’s bottled 6-8 weeks after harvest, traditionally used as a celebratory drink for the workers who’ve made it through another vintage. Georges Duboeuf turned the local tradition into a global celebration, making the third Thursday in November Beaujolais Nouveau day, on which when you’ll hear “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” shouted from cafés and in the streets late into the night (that is, if you live in the center of Dijon, like I did in 2018). Outside of France, Beaujolais Nouveau bottles are raced off to other countries like the US, where the wine became a typical choice for our own Thursday in November celebration: Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately, Duboeuf’s campaign’s success backfired in that it overshadowed the quality wines in Beaujolais. Nouveau became inextricably tied with Beaujolais, and the higher quality Villages and cru wines weren’t getting the attention they deserved. Fortunately, the “Gang of Four,” a group of producers focused on how their wines’ production impacted the environment began making natural Beaujolais wines that became sommelier darlings, rebuilding the region’s quality reputation. These days, I can’t imagine meeting a wine nerd who doesn’t love Beaujolais wines, particularly the Villages and cru wines.
This trendiness means that Beaujolais cru wines aren’t the steals they once were price-wise, but they’re still far more affordable than comparable Burgundies. And they’re simply a joy to drink. Cru Beaujolais is the crème de la crème of Beaujolais, wines from one of the 10 appellations in the north of the region that have been demarcated as crus. The next level down in quality is Beaujolais-Villages, a style whose grapes can be grown in any of 38 different villages, also in the northern part of the region around and outside of the crus. Beaujolais-Villages wines can also represent great value, though quality isn’t as consistently guaranteed as it is from the cru wines. Beaujolais without anything after the word itself is the name for the wines whose grapes can be grown anywhere in the region, usually further south, where there are fewer granitic and more clay-based soils that can result in simpler wines with less structure.
Note: I chose 6 of the 10 crus to focus on in this tasting, though you’ll find the others as recommended alternatives for specific crus. I’ve intentionally selected crus that tend to have wide global distribution in an effort to make it easier for you to find and enjoy these wines.
If you enjoyed these Beaujolais wines, you might also like Light-Bodied Reds and Pinot Noir.
What to look for in this tasting
Beaujolais wines tend to be floral, fruity and mineral-driven with light, soft tannins and bright acidity that make them extremely flexible pairing partners food-wise. There’s a winemaking technique used by many producers in Beaujolais that distinctly alters how the wines taste, giving them those floral, fruity and even candied aromas and flavors.
Semi-carbonic maceration is a traditional technique in which grapes are piled into tanks while still in whole bunches with the stems. The grapes in the bottom of the tanks tend to split open thanks to the weight of the grapes above, and will begin fermenting in the usual way. But the grapes on top that stay intact undergo an entirely different process. Carbon dioxide (CO2), a natural byproduct of fermentation, wafts up from the fermenting grapes in the bottom and blankets the intact grapes up top so that they begin to undergo an intracellular fermentation inside each grape. Once the intracellular fermentation reaches 2% alcohol, the grapes burst and start to ferment in the typical way, exposed to the yeasts outside their skins. Carbonic maceration (minus the semi) is a similar process used for the less expensive Beaujolais wines, in which producers intentionally blanket a tank full of grapes with CO2 gas and seal it, encouraging intracellular fermentation in the whole tank before traditional fermentation takes over the burst grapes.
This technique gives Beaujolais wines flavors that can taste very fruity and candied. Think tutti-frutti, bubble gum, banana, strawberry candy, grape popsicles. Producers tend to prefer semi-carbonic maceration over the full carbonic because the wines get some of these bright, fruity flavors without being overwhelmed by them.
These days, many producers are making Beaujolais without semi-carbonic maceration at all, choosing instead to use winemaking techniques more similar to those used in Burgundy, resulting in wines with less fruity aromas and more structure and complexity that makes them distinctly compelling.
The wines
#1: Fleurie
Fleurie (”fluhr-ee”) is known for making pretty wines. The name alone is pretty, so this just makes sense to me. The pink granitic hills in Fleurie boast the highest elevation amongst the Beaujolais crus, resulting in wines that tend to be more delicate, elegant and floral than those from the other crus. Fleurie is sometimes called the queen of the Beaujolais crus, though this is a bit comical when you consider that the name Fleurie comes from a Roman legionary rather than any queen.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Fleurie.”
Alternative(s): Juliénas
#2: Brouilly
Brouilly (”bwree-yee”) is the largest of the Beaujolais crus in terms of acres (or hectares) and lies at the southern end of the crus. Mont Brouilly, a volcanic hill, is the defining feature of this region, since most of the vineyards here fan out along the slopes toward its foot. This part of Beaujolais has a range of soils, from pink granite to blue stone and clay marl, with some volcanic rock that gives the wines a distinctive vibrancy and mineral-driven quality. Brouilly wines are known for being fruit-forward with a soft structure that makes them exceedingly easy to enjoy.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Brouilly.”
Alternatives: Régnié
#3: Moulin-à-Vent
Moulin-à-Vent (”moo-lehn-ah-vahnt”), named after a tall historic windmill, competes with Morgon for status as the most prestigious Beaujolais cru, though Moulin-à-Vent has the edge in that its known as the king of the Beaujolais crus. If neighboring Fleurie, with its elegant, delicate, floral wines is the queen of Beaujolais, then Moulin-à-Vent’s wines are unsurprisingly structured, powerful, and even sometimes meaty, though still with dried floral and spice aromas that soften their density. These are age-worthy Beaujolais wines that can even pass for Burgundian Pinot Noir when tasted blind.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Moulin-à-Vent.”
Alternatives: Stick with a Moulin-à-Vent
#4: Morgon
Morgon (”mor-gohn”) competes with Moulin-à-Vent to be considered the cru with the finest Beaujolais wines. Morgon is much bigger than Moulin-à-Vent, second only to Brouilly in size. Morgon’s defining feature is the Mont du Py, a large hill with decomposed schist that gives the wines grown on its Côte du Py, the most prestigious vineyard area, a tannic structure with refinement and power unlike other Beaujolais. Morgon wines are firm with savory, iron-y, meaty flavors tempered by ripe cherry and red plum. These are wines that can age and develop further complexity, much like fine Burgundy wines.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Morgon.”
Alternatives: Stick with a Morgon
#5: Saint-Amour
Saint-Amour (”sehn-tah-moor”) is the northernmost Beaujolais cru, and is one of the smallest. Nevertheless, Saint-Amour wines are popular exports, especially around Valentine’s Day, thanks to its holy love-like name. Saint-Amour wines can be a mixed bag in terms of style, since the soils here can be granitic or comprised of blue stone, schist and clay, sometimes mixed, sometimes not. This means that the wines can be delicate and aromatic, with floral and raspberry flavors, or quite powerful and structured, with red cherries and spice. Much like in love, what you expect to find is never guaranteed.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Saint-Amour.”
Alternatives: Chiroubles
#6: Chénas
Chénas (”shay-nah”) sounds just like a Swedish greeting my husband uses with his family and friends, though it’s spelled entirely differently: tjena. These days, when I think of Chénas, I think of my husband saying “shay-nah, shay-nah” when answering the phone. Chénas wines aren’t as well-known as those from Moulin-à-Vent or Morgon, but they can be equally structured, often with silky tannins that can fool you into thinking that the wines are soft, when instead, the tannins just have a silky texture supporting floral, mineral and red fruit flavors that can develop further complexity with age.
What to ask for: Ask by name, and keep in mind that the word “Beaujolais” is unlikely to be on the label. Instead, the wine will be called “Chénas.”
Alternatives: Côte de Brouilly
Tasting tips
The eats
Beaujolais is, in my opinion, the go-to red wine for Thanksgiving dinner. But unless you’re hosting a Wineluck Club tasting during Thanksgiving, you’ll probably want to serve something else.
As a light-bodied red wine with plenty of acidity, Beaujolais is incredibly versatile. Barbecue, pho, pizza, roast chicken, holiday ham, anything mushroom-y, salmon, the list goes on and on. Since this time of year in Copenhagen is dark, cold and often wet, I tend to lean toward comfort food, the kinds of cozy dishes that just feel like a hug and make your whole home smell delicious. I’ve been making this pumpkin, sausage and kale pot pie lately that perfectly fits the bill for this tasting.
Charcuterie-wise, look to lighter cured meats like prosciutto and younger cheeses whose intensity will complement these wines’ juicier style.
The prep
Some of these wines may take time for your guests to find, depending on where you live. In Copenhagen, these wines should be readily available at most retailers. In the United States, availability really depends on the city and state, so I’d advise giving your guests at least 2 weeks to find their assigned wines.
It’s up to you as the host to decide if you want to set a price range or limit, or let your guests determine what they’re each comfortable spending.
Beaujolais wines are best with a bit of chill, so please encourage your guests to give their wines some pre-tasting fridge time, or have an ice bucket ready for a quick dunk to reach cellar temperature. If you’ve never walked down into a winemaker’s cellar and felt the chill and damp, just think about what it feels like on a brisk autumn day. A bottle that’s just cool to the touch, that’s the goal here.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first, so that even if there are just 4 wines in the tasting, you’ve got a well-rounded experience ahead. However, I’d suggest switching up the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines make it in the final cut, as follows:
Saint-Amour
Fleurie
Brouilly
Chénas
Moulin-à-Vent
Morgon
