High up on the Col de Durbize, near the top of the Chiroubles appellation in Beaujolais, the view is breathtaking.

Due south, across a rippling wave of vineyard-covered hills, the mounded form of the Côte de Brouilly towers over the landscape. Beyond it, a flat plain spills away towards the Saône river.

On a cloudless day you can often catch a glimpse of Mont Blanc in the far distance, its snow-capped shoulders marking the highest point of the Alps.

The sloping vineyards to the north of the col are punctuated by copses of trees and sunshine-yellow gorse bushes.

Even though you’re less than 3km from the village, it’s peaceful up here, the silence interrupted only by the loud song of blackbirds and the occasional quiet hum of a peloton of cyclists whooshing by.

It’s not just the view that takes your breath away. Even on a sunny spring day, you can feel the wind that blows over the col.

Its name, Durbize, is a portmanteau of bize, the moniker used in the Alps for a cold, dry mountain wind, and dur (meaning ‘hard’), a reference to just how biting that wind can feel when it really gets going.

The bize is often keenly felt by the producers working the steep vineyards that spread out over the slopes beneath and behind the col.

It’s worth bearing in mind that although the Col de Durbize, perched at 500m above sea level, is one of the highest points in the region, some of the Chiroubles vineyards are situated even higher.

Work your heart out

Furthermore, not only is Chiroubles the highest of the 10 crus of Beaujolais – its highest-quality sub-regions – it also features the region’s most vertiginous slopes.

Toiling up and down the sharp inclines in this hilly cru is not for the faint of heart or the weak of limb.

The growers’ task is made even harder by the nature of the vines they’re tending. The vineyards of Beaujolais’ crus are largely populated by ancient bush vines, almost entirely Gamay, many of them so low to the ground that they look like bonsai versions of the more vigorous plants seen elsewhere.

Bending and kneeling to prune these vines, and to harvest the low-hanging bunches, takes a physical toll on Chiroubles’ growers over time.

‘I love being up there in my vineyards. I love the landscape, and the feeling that I’m surrounded by nature, and I love the views,’ says Domaine de la Grosse Pierre’s Pauline Passot.

Then she sighs. ‘It’s incredibly hard work and I have to work my heart out. The vineyards are so steep they just can’t be mechanised – everything has to be done by hand.’

But although those steep slopes, buffeting winds and old vines may be a tribulation for grape-growers, they are a distinct advantage in the context of climate change.

While the Chiroubles cru may have struggled to ripen its grapes in past years, when chaptalisation (adding sugar to the fermenting must to increase potential alcohol) was the norm in the region, the freshness derived from elevation and wind is now a positive blessing in a changing climate, when those tending vines grown in riper sites sometimes struggle to keep alcohol levels under control.

Rocky descent

The final piece in the puzzle of the distinctive terroir of Chiroubles is geology. It’s the only one of the 10 crus to be composed exclusively of the pink granite soils for which the region is renowned.

Even Fleurie, the cru most strongly associated with pink granite in most people’s minds, has a fan of alluvial soils situated in the southeast of the appellation.

In some parts of the Chiroubles appellation, geology and topography combine to create incredibly shallow soils in which the bedrock lies exposed, while elsewhere these rocks have decomposed to create relatively deep, free-draining granitic sands.

It’s this combination of elevation, cooling influences and granite soils that gives the wines of Chiroubles a unique tension and energy, while vine age (many of these plants are well over 80 years old) lends concentration and focus.

Chiroubles is typically fine-boned and perfumed: the Beaujolais equivalent, perhaps, of Volnay or Chambolle-Musigny.

Unfortunately for the region’s growers, however, Chiroubles doesn’t command anywhere near the price of the wines of the Côte d’Or, despite their stylistic similarities.

As a result, it’s perhaps unsurprising that over the course of the two years I spent researching my book The Wines of Beaujolais (£35 Académie du Vin Library, September 2025), Chiroubles lost nearly 15% of its vineyard area – and a recent trip to the region suggests that a further 5%-10% of vineyards have been abandoned in the past 12 months.

All this in a cru that is already the second smallest of the 10 in terms of area.

Commercial realities

‘Lost’ is a euphemism in this particular context. What typically happens is that, when a grower retires, he struggles to find anyone to take over his vineyards. These are then left to lie fallow, the grasses growing wild between the tightly spaced vines.

For many growers, farming a hectare or two of Chiroubles is, it would appear, far more trouble than it’s worth.

As Passot points out: ‘Very few people want to take on these difficult vineyards, especially when it’s hard to make a return on the investment in the time and money it takes to farm them.’

She’s not wrong. A quick back-of-an-envelope calculation suggests that the steepest hillside vineyards in Beaujolais cost two or three times more to farm than those that lie on flatter land – possibly even more if you farm organically, as many of the best producers do.

The story of Jules Métras’ La Montagne, one of the finest wines made in Chiroubles, is a perfect illustration of the potential loss to the wine world.

The 2024 vintage of this wine – and of its stablemate, the Vieilles Vignes Chiroubles – is the last Métras will ever bottle.

When I visited him last year, he told me he was giving up his long-term lease on the vineyards with great regret, but with a pragmatic eye on both the commercial realities of the situation and his own physical limitations.

Métras’ father Yvon, one of the pioneers of the natural wine movement in Beaujolais, has recently retired from the viticultural fray, handing over the management of his Fleurie vineyards to his son.

Métras, having decided that he wanted to keep his production on a small enough scale to enable him to operate as a one-man band, was faced with a decision about whether to keep his father’s vineyards or the ones he’d been farming under his own label.

Ultimately, much as he felt an affinity for his plots in Chiroubles, Métras’ calculation was driven by the pragmatics.

‘It’s just far easier to sell Fleurie than it is to sell Chiroubles,’ he shrugged, adding that another factor that influenced him was having watched some of his relatives farm Chiroubles’ sloping vineyards until they reached their 60s.

‘All those years of climbing up and down those hills, tending those low-lying vines, simply wore them out,’ he told me.

And there’s a further issue that makes Chiroubles a challenge for any producer. The hailstorms that sweep through the region with increasing frequency seem to strike the cru with both monotonous regularity and devastating consequences.

Most of the growers in Chiroubles tell me that they count on losing a significant proportion of their crop at least one year in three.

Sometimes, when the hailstorms roll through, they’ll escape with relatively minor damage, but in the worst-case scenarios, 70% or 80% of a vineyard’s potential harvest can be lost in the space of half an hour or so.

For the love of it

And yet this troublesome, capricious cru has a way of working its way into the hearts and souls of those who take the trouble to get to know it.

‘The people who farm these vineyards are doing it for love,’ says Michele Smith of Domaine Chapel, who farms 3ha of vineyards spread across three of Chiroubles’ lieux-dits (‘named locations’).

‘They’re doing it because they believe in the cru. I think that eventually this will resonate with people. Chiroubles deserves the same amount of respect as the more prestigious appellations – maybe even more because of the challenges that it brings. These wines just have the most amazing energy and vibrancy.’

But if the wines of Chiroubles are so good, why are they so difficult to sell?

One of the cru’s greatest problems is that, unlike the larger, more famous crus of Morgon and Fleurie, Chiroubles doesn’t have a big winemaking name – either in its past or in its present – to drive its image.

Most of the grapes grown in the cru have been absorbed into big (and often rather bland) négociant blends, humdrum wines that aren’t likely to attract discerning palates or turn collectors’ heads.

Nevertheless, the wines recommended below are evidence that great winemakers – if not famous ones – are prepared to carry a torch for Chiroubles.

Another issue that may play its part in Chiroubles’ travails is that the distinctive identity of each of the 10 Beaujolais crus isn’t yet widely recognised.

One importer told me, off the record, that the typical response from retailers and restaurants (ones that happily list a couple of dozen wines from Burgundy or a generous handful of Piedmontese Nebbiolos) is: ‘Thanks, but we already have a Beaujolais’.

Given that, for an outlet that believes that listing Beaujolais is a box-ticking exercise, the first cab off the rank is usually either a Morgon or a Fleurie (or possibly a Moulin-à-Vent if they’re feeling really adventurous), poor little Chiroubles rarely gets a look in.

The exhortation to ‘use it or lose it’ is a familiar one to any gym-goer over the age of 40, but it’s less frequently heard in the context of wine.

Nevertheless, the clock is ticking for Chiroubles. It’s time we all realised that the hills of Beaujolais conceal a hidden treasure.

If we don’t, there’s a risk that this particular pot of elegant, perfumed vinous gold will disappear from our lives forever.

Gamay at the extreme: Natasha’s pick of 10 Chiroubles to try

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It’s 2016. I’m waiting for a friend at a restaurant and start scanning the wine list.

Something catches my eye: a 2007 Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. It had almost 10 years on it.

But Bourgogne Passetoutgrains is a simple wine, I had been taught, the sort that didn’t age – it would be tired, surely?

Well, it wasn’t. That delicious bottle, from Domaine Michel Lafarge – one of Volnay’s leading names, has been lingering in my mind ever since.

Disloyal Gameez

Pinot Noir is the grape we associate with Burgundy today, but Gamay was once widely planted too.

It was famously banned in the region by Philip the Bold in the 14th century. The Duke issued a decree in 1395 ordering the ‘evil and disloyal plant’ to be torn from the ground.

But Gamay didn’t entirely disappear. While Pinot Noir would dominate the region’s vineyards, pockets of Gamay survived long beyond the 14th century – with a little over 2,000ha spread around the region today.

The Burgundians tend to look down their noses at Gamay – a grape they argue doesn’t have the finesse of Pinot Noir.

Gamay is the journeyman, Pinot Noir the champion fighter. When the INAO created Burgundy’s appellation system in 1937, they permitted Gamay to be used under just two appellations: Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire (replaced in 2011 by Coteaux Bourguignons, which can be a varietal Gamay or a blend) and Bourgogne Passetoutgrains.

Passetoutgrains (sometimes hyphenated as Passe-tout-grains, and sometimes spelt with a singular ‘grain’) translates roughly as ‘pass all grapes’ – a bung-it-all-in wine, traditionally from vineyards where different varieties were co-planted and harvested together.

At the bottom of the quality pyramid, with vines generally sitting on less desirable, lower-lying, clay-rich land, these were modest wines of little repute.

At a time when much Burgundy sits beyond the average wine-lover’s budget, however, Passetoutgrains deserves a re-appraisal.

Old wines reborn

Today, Passetoutgrains must legally contain a minimum of 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Gamay, although most wines are a 50-50 blend.

Older vineyards tend to be traditional field blends, with the Gamay and Pinot Noir interplanted, but modern plantings often separate the two varieties.

‘I am very keen on Passetoutgrains,’ says Guillaume d’Angerville – the aristocratic head of Domaine Marquis d’Angerville.

His father stopped producing the wine, but Guillaume re-introduced it and recently purchased an additional parcel to expand his holdings in the appellation.

This property may be best known for its monopole premier cru Clos des Ducs, but a glint in his eye appears when I ask him about its entry-level offering.

It is, he tells me, ‘unassuming’, ‘a wine for thirst’ – and one that he feels is important for the region. ‘Gamay brings the joy, the liveliness, to the seriousness of Pinot Noir,’ he says.

For Clothilde Lafarge (of Domaine Lafarge), the wine has a special place in her family’s history as the vineyard planted by her great-grandfather Henri Lafarge in 1928 and one of the first wines he bottled (alongside Clos des Chênes).

A traditional field blend, the vines are now approaching 100 years old – something Clothilde feels is key to the quality of their L’Exception bottling.

This vine age, alongside 18 months in barrel, lends more complexity and structure than you’d expect for such a simple appellation.

Similarly, for Jean-Louis Trapet, of Domaine Trapet, Passetoutgrains is an important part of their heritage: ‘It remains a living testimony of what Burgundy once was,’ he says.

A wine of the future?

With climate change, however, Gamay is not just part of Burgundy’s past – it could be key to its future.

It ripens more slowly and is more stable in the face of extreme conditions.

Romain Taupenot (of Domaine Taupenot-Merme) notes how lowly appellations have benefitted from global warming, now consistently ripening in a way that simply wasn’t the case 20-25 years ago.

‘I’m a big, big lover of Gamay,’ says Benoît Stehly, who is at the helm of Domaine Georges Lignier.

He explains how well-adapted the grape is to Burgundy’s modern climate – creating wines of freshness and energy.

Most importantly, he adds, Passetoutgrains offers ‘a friendly bottle at a friendly price’.

Beyond Burgundy

Producers beyond Burgundy are even echoing the style. In Hokkaido, Japan, cult winemaker Takahiko Soga (Domaine Takahiko) makes a Passetoutgrains that blends Pinot Noir and Zweigelt, while in Oregon and California, Sashi Moorman has experimented with Gamay for years.

For the entry-level Pinot Noir at Evening Land, he blends in around 10% Gamay – inspired in part by the tradition in Piedmont of blending a little Barbera with Nebbiolo.

It adds, he says, ‘a little playfulness,’ making the wine more charming – perfect for a style designed for everyday consumption.

Low yields are key, however, to producing high quality, he argues – especially in the naturally more generous Gamay.

I’m not here to tell you that Passetoutgrains can rival Echézeaux, Musigny or Chambertin: these wines will not offer the complexity of the grands crus.

But Passetoutgrains doesn’t come with that price tag, either. These are affordable, juicy wines – irresistible and moreish.

More than that, they offer a great introduction to a producer’s style – before you plump for something more special.

Don’t dismiss their deliciousness either, for when they’re made by a top producer – they’ve got a capacity to evolve that you might not expect.

Passetoutgrains

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As I write this, Beaujolais is in a flurry. Its first wines of 2025 – the fragrantly juicy Beaujolais Nouveau – are being sent out across the globe ready for the impending (and inevitably raucous) festivities on the third Thursday of November.

And while the folk from Beaujolais are the undeniable overlords of the nouveau party, they aren’t the only players out there dabbling in this vinous fountain of youth.

When you pull back the curtain, you realise there are people all over Europe, and even in the UK, that make their own versions of these new harvest wines.

A long history

Beaujolais Nouveau is merely the best known (modern) example of a much wider tradition of drinking brand new wines soon after harvest.

Nouveau wine, in its simplest terms, is a young wine that is bottled and released almost immediately after harvest. At times they are little more than fermenting must – such as Federweisser in Germany (known as Sturm in Austria).

In Beaujolais it is made with Gamay, which is low in tannins, using carbonic maceration – where the grape begins to ferment within the berry itself, promoting fragrant, perfumed fruit aromas. It is meant to be light in alcohol, juicy and easy going.

As Beaujolais producer Christophe Pacalet says, nouveau is ultimately an unpretentious wine that you can drink while you play pétanque.

Around France

As an inhabitant of southern France, I was intrigued to see whether this area, more famed for its heady reds, was getting on board with the style.

Jean-Philippe Padié of Domaine Padié in Roussillon has been making a nouveau wine since 2019. It was a bit of an accident; he had a plot of Syrah that went through fermentation quickly and cleanly, offering him a delicious rendition of a nouveau style.

Padié now works predominantly with the indigenous variety Lledoner Pelut, which he says gives an even lighter, crunchier wine, with a hint of something maritime from the vineyard’s coastal location.

Similarly, in the cooler northern reaches of the Loire, Joseph Mosse of Domaine Mosse makes a fuschia-coloured wine called Bang Nouveau from a blend of the pink-skinned Grolleau Gris and Gamay.

And while there is an argument that nouveau wines are best made with lighter-skinned varieties, Romain Le Bars in the Rhône Valley proves that this isn’t always the case. His dangerously drinkable Nouveau Nez cuvée is made from Cinsault, Grenache and Carignan.

Traditions old and new

Nouveau wines are popping up across France. However, there are other countries that have a deep-rooted history with this style of wine – Spain, for example.

Specifically in Rioja, where the wines are called cosecheros. Last year saw the launch of the first cosecheros tasting in London, hosted by Ben Llewelyn of UK importer Carte Blanche and writer Tim Atkin MW.

Here producers work with Tempranillo, foot crushing the grapes and using carbonic maceration. Like in Beaujolais, it is a style that is embedded in the culture, despite also falling prey to the tools of mass production such as thermovinification and commercial yeasts.

And while the Spanish perhaps don’t partake in the annual country-wide festivities, the Italians certainly do. Also released in early November, Italy’s answer is vino novello, also made with carbonic maceration and with a host of different grape varieties depending on the region.

Perhaps the most iconic in this mix is the Bardolino Novello from Veneto, which brings much joyous celebration to the shores of Lake Garda.

Sandridge Barton in Devon, UK, has been making its own nouveau wine since 1995. Spurred on by a disruption in Beaujolais supply during the outbreak of mad cow disease, they decided to try their hand at making one themselves.

Intriguingly, their nouveau was – and still is – a white made from the grape Madeleine Angevine (affectionately known as Mad Ange), chosen because it’s their earliest-ripening variety, going from vine to glass in just six weeks. This year spells their first release of a red nouveau made with Pinot Noir and carbonic maceration.

Balfour Winery has also adopted this new wave British tradition with its Essex-grown Pinot Noir Nouveau. Following the stellar conditions of the 2025 vintage, the estate’s head of wine Fergus Elias was keen to show that ‘English Pinot Noir has the ripeness, the fruit and the finesse to stand on its own’.

This is only the second vintage of nouveau, but with such excellent fruit to hand, they’ve made a wine that is ‘playful and purposeful’.

Down with the kill-joys

There are pessimists who want to put down nouveau wines simply as a marketing stunt or something to bolster cash flow. If that is indeed the case, then good on them. Hopefully everyone getting involved is making some much needed cash and shining a light on their region.

But I think it is so much more than that. As Llewelyn says, nouveau wines have historical relevance and value. In Rioja, they show the diversity of their grapes and region, they regulate supply – especially important in a place like Rioja where ageing requirements can extend up to five years – and they give affordable access to quality wines.

Isabel Fernández of Rioja’s Bodega Abeica says that these wines have been part of Rioja’s culture ‘since time immemorial’. Traditionally, they were made to be consumed within 18 months of harvest.

Her family has been making a cosechero wine for four generations, and she believes they can have good longevity and weight, so she uses a parcel of 100-year-old Tempranillo for her cuvée.

Echoing the sentiments of others I spoke to, she says that the crux of making a quality nouveau wine comes down to the quality of the fruit and the stems, especially when working with carbonic maceration and with low intervention cellar methods.

The biggest challenge facing nouveau producers? Poor quality fruit. Because in the end, the joy of nouveau – wherever it’s made – lies in its immediacy. It is a snapshot of a harvest that ultimately takes no prisoners.

Playful frivolity

From conversations with winemakers, it’s clear that these wines are moving into a realm of quality and artisanship. Climate change has brought riper grapes and earlier harvests, and as a result we’re seeing more of these wines made without manipulation – a gradual phasing out of what Jon Bonné, in The New French Wine, calls ‘industrial pop wine’.

For years, the market had grown used to nouveau wines tasting of candied banana and bubblegum – flavours I once assumed were a natural byproduct of carbonic maceration, but which in fact come from a specific yeast strain, 71B, which is no longer used to the same extent as it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

While I am a lover of Beaujolais Nouveau – especially in its newer, more natural iteration – there is even more scope for playful frivolity and experimentation in other regions and countries.

In an industry that can err on the side of stuffy and get bogged down in rules and labels, nouveau is a perfectly imperfect antidote for us to share abundantly and joyously.

Like my friends Greg Lane and Sarah Adamson of Scout Wines in New Zealand said of their Pinot x Pinot (a blend of Noir and Gris) take on a nouveau, they made it for no other reason than enjoyment, ‘to keep the house happy’.

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‘The world of wine is in crisis because of a lack of pleasure,’ says Fabien Duperray of Domaine Jules Desjourneys. This is hardly a problem for drinkers of the Beaujolais 2023 vintage, however.

The year has produced wines of rare balance and elegance. It is a vintage to buy both for current drinking and to lay down for the future. The top wines from 2023 will stand the test of time, but there is also enough hedonistic fruit to ensure immediate pleasure.

Beaujolais’ top producers are today turning out ageworthy gems that are well worth discovering at prices that make even the top wines an affordable splurge.

Our expert’s picks of 2023 Beaujolais listed below

So why 2023?

Compared with the preceding year, 2023 was a cooler vintage and the grapes kept a bit more acidity.

Picking in 2023 began in the last week of August (as it did in 2022), but there was plenty of rain during the season so the wines have more freshness, even though both harvests were picked at a moderate 13.5% alcohol.

Despite tremendous heat during harvest in 2023, the phenolic maturity was not as great, and winemakers tended to use a slightly shorter time in tank.

‘One could make great wine in 2023 if the yields didn’t get ahead of you,’ says Philippe Pascal of Domaine Mont Bessay in Juliénas.

Frédéric Jametton, the partner of Côte de Nuits superstar Guillaume Rouget at the Domaine de Vernus in Régnié, says: ‘I’d drink the 2023s before the 2022s, but it will be a great vintage’.

Maxime-Henri Lafarge, Michel Lafarge’s grandson, splits his time between Volnay and the family estate in Fleurie.

‘You can enjoy these wines now, or lay them down for the future,’ he says, ‘it’s always a good moment to open them, since they do not seem to be shutting down as some hotter vintages will do.’

The 2023 growing season

A warm winter in 2023 was followed by cooler, rainy weather, but flowering took place under ideal conditions, guaranteeing a generous yield.

July and August saw alternating periods of hot and dry balanced by cool and wet. This contrasted sharply with 2022 and other ‘global warming’ vintages that had more heat spikes and less water, ensuring moderate accumulation of sugar.

The first two weeks of August were rainy, with hail on 13 August, but the sun came out to finish ripening the grapes.

The making of a classic Beaujolais

In addition to Morgon, Fleurie and Juliénas, the most successful Beaujolais crus in 2023 include Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, St-Amour and Moulin-à-Vent, all of which produced wines that we can enjoy today and for years to come.

Many of the most complex and compelling wines come from the single-village Beaujolais crus in the northern part of Beaujolais, near the border with the southern reaches of Burgundy.

Wines here are made principally with two techniques, either semi-carbonic maceration or destemming.

In semi-carbonic maceration, winemakers who use a short maceration are looking for a fruity, forward style for easy drinking, but prolonging the maceration can deliver wines worthy of ageing in bottle.

Domaine Marcel Lapierre, for example, has macerations that last anywhere from nine to 35 days according to the desired style.

Jean-Marc Burgaud, macerates his grapes for about two weeks – depending on the vintage – before finishing the fermentation and ageing in tank to preserve a bit of reduction.

Burgaud is a great believer in the capacity of his wines to age, and believes that reduction lets them open slowly in bottle.

Burgundian influence

A very different style of wine is made by destemming some or all of the grapes prior to fermentation.

Destemming commonly gives wines that are more deeply coloured, with more prominent tannins and notable purity of fruit. This technique is often used by winemakers from Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, where the practice is common.

This is the case at Domaine Lafarge-Vial in Fleurie, founded by Frédéric Lafarge and his wife Chantal (née Vial) of Volnay. The grapes here are completely destemmed, either by hand or machine.

The fruit is given a maceration of two weeks before pressing in a vertical press and ageing in large oak uprights and used barrels of 228L and 350L for 14 months before bottling.

A hybrid technique is used by Guillaume Marko, technical director of Domaine du Cellier aux Moines in Givry and partner (with Philippe Pascal) in Domaine Mont Bessay in Juliénas.

At Domaine Mont Bessay the grapes from old vines are fermented largely as whole bunches and those from the younger vines are partially destemmed.

Pascal also believes in the ageability of Beaujolais: ‘Great Gamay needs long ageing, just like great Burgundy’.

Savvy wine lovers should without doubt snap up some of the top Beaujolais from 2023. The wines are delicious now and will hold for the future, too.

What’s more, much less wine was produced in 2024, so now’s your chance to stock up while the 2023s are still on the market.

Three Beaujolais 2023 drinking well now

Domaine des Pierres Roses, Vieilles Vignes, Moulin à Vent 2023 – 92 points

Pierre Roses is the Beaujolais project of Nuits-St-Georges superstar Thibault Liger-Belair. His ‘entry-level’ bottling is truly superb, boasting ripe, fleshy black plum and fig fruit enlivened by hints of earth and a salty minerality. The texture is dense but approachable. The wine is produced from old vines from the north-facing slopes, giving a wine with structure and freshness, with enough bright fruit to reward immediate drinking.

Domaine Laurent Gauthier, Beaujolais Villages 2023 – 91 points

Morgon-based Laurent Gauthier produces a beguiling Beaujolais Villages by blending fruit from two Beaujolais crus: 80% Morgon and 20% Chiroubles. The result has a lovely, lilting raspberry fruit aroma with a floral edge and a hint of spice. The texture is approachable and fresh but not overly fruity. This is a perfect wine to pair with traditional French bistrot classics, any night of the week.

Bret Brothers, Poncié, Fleurie 2023 – 92 points

The approachable, plummy fruit aromas of this single-vineyard Fleurie are accented with notes of fresh flowers and liquorice. The texture has a plump density but there is enough finesse to give this a moreish balance that calls for a second glass. The grapes are from the steep, southwest-facing slopes and pink granite soils of Poncié; they are fermented as whole bunches and given a fairly short maceration before ageing in used barrels.

Top picks from Beaujolais 2023:

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A complex white Burgundy, majestic Rioja Gran Reserva or silky, bright Pinot Noir wine from one of several key growing regions can all be fantastic choices to drink with turkey.

Classic styles when pairing wine with turkey include:

• Full-bodied Chardonnay, such as those from Burgundy or California
• Pinot Noir
• Mature Bordeaux, Rioja or Barolo
• Beaujolais (Gamay)

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Basics: what kind of wine goes with turkey?

Turkey is not a very powerful meat and its relatively low fat content means it can dry out quickly during cooking. 

Great wine matches with turkey include relatively full-bodied white wines or medium-bodied reds with low-to-medium tannin levels and high acidity. 

Turkey’s lack of fat means there is little to dampen down prominent, mouth-coating tannins associated with some younger, bolder red wines.

Bold tannins could eclipse all that hard work in the kitchen. Yet tannins generally soften over time, which is why a few years of bottle age can change the picture.

That said, ‘classic’ styles can vary in the glass according to winemaking decisions and vintage conditions.

Food and wine pairing is also highly subjective. Personal taste is always important, as expert Fiona Beckett recently wrote in defence of the concept.

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Pairing wine with turkey: a visual guide

Click on the turkey and wine pairing graphic below to see a full-size version.

Pairing wine with turkey at Christmas

Roast turkey for Christmas or Thanksgiving tends to arrive with an entourage that demands attention. 

‘As turkey has quite a subtle taste and a soft texture, the style of the wine will depend essentially on what accompanies the fowl at Christmas,’ said master sommelier Matthieu Longuère MS, wine development manager at Le Cordon Bleu London culinary school.

‘The classic trimmings that tend to be eaten alongside turkey for Christmas lunch are: a mountain of roasted potatoes, stuffing, carrots, parsnips, pigs in blankets, red cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, and an ocean of gravy,’ said Longuère.

‘This variety means that your choice of wine needs to be a good all-rounder. It should not be too tannic or it will clash with the sweetness of the cranberry sauce and root vegetables, and the sweet and sourness of the cabbage. 

‘Also, it cannot not be too heavy or too full-bodied, as it will overwhelm the soft turkey meat,’ he said, speaking to Decanter in 2024.

Acidity can help to refresh your palate as you wade through the array of dishes on the table.

Is red or white wine better for a turkey dinner?

An expert Decanter panel named white Burgundy as the best pairing with turkey back in 2011.

This beat Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Bordeaux blends, Pinot Noir and Californian Zinfandel in a tasting.

Longuère said it should be possible to find a wine in every colour that fits the bill, however. That’s good news if one of your fellow diners only drinks rosé, or white, red or orange. 

Red wine with turkey

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir often delivers wines of bright red fruit and refreshing acidity, albeit with varying levels of structure, and can be a great red wine choice for turkey. 

It’s still possible to find ‘value’ options in Burgundy, if you know where to look.

That said, premier or grand cru wines from top producers would likely deliver a memorable experience for anyone with access to them.

Decanter’s Burgundy correspondent, Charles Curtis MW, recently reviewed several Richebourg Grand Cru wines from Domaine Anne Gros.

Longuère recommended a good, five-year-old Pinot from Burgundy, Germany or also the UK, as well as from regions outside Europe.

Delicious Pinot Noir wines can be found across the world, from Mornington Peninsula in Australia and Central Otago in New Zealand to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the US and Walker Bay in South Africa.

Some styles may be too lightweight. Decanter’s 2011 panel found a Volnay wine from Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune was ‘overwhelmed by the food.’ 

Younger reds can work, too. Longuère said ‘New World’ styles tend to be more approachable in youth, but also that decanting can help to ‘soften up’ younger wines in general.

Cru Beaujolais, produced from Gamay, is another fitting option, said Longuère. He advised looking towards lighter crus like Fleurie or Brouilly.

One feature of cooking turkey during the festive season is that the meat can last beyond the big day.

For cold roast turkey leftovers, food and wine pairing expert Fiona Beckett previously advised looking towards ‘a riper, more robustly fruity Pinot Noir from, say, California, Oregon or New Zealand’.

Mature red wines with turkey

Many wines built for long-term ageing have prominent tannins when young, although the character of these tannins can vary.

Nebbiolo (Barolo) and Cabernet Sauvignon are two grape varieties able to produce highly prized, long-lived wines that are generally high in tannin and acidity.

Tannins soften over time in the best bottlings, integrating into layer-upon-layer of delicious primary fruit and ‘tertiary’ flavours to offer a real treat at the table.

Longuère said: ‘If one is going for it, [I’d suggest] a 20-year-old Haut-Médoc or Barolo when they become really complex, with aromas of tobacco, autumn leaf and sweet oak, and feel like pure silk on the palate.’

Bordeaux’s brilliant 2005 vintage turned 20 years old in 2025, but don’t write off years that didn’t make quite so many headlines.

Charles Curtis MW recently explored the the charm of Bordeaux’s undervalued class of 2006.

Some vintages and wines evolve quicker than others, of course.

Bordeaux 2014 is a good place to look for relative value and wines offering drinking pleasure now. Several top names from the well-regarded 2015 vintage are also showing well in the glass a decade on from harvest.

Rioja with roast turkey: ‘a slam-dunk match’

Longuère also suggested Rioja Gran Reserva wines at least 10 years old as a potentially great match for turkey.

These wines are released with some bottle age and are often relatively good value in the fine wine world, he noted.

Wine writer Olly Smith is also a fan. ‘Turkey with all the trimmings and a high-end Rioja Gran Reserva is a slam-dunk wine match for Christmas day,’ he previously wrote for Decanter.

Read our Rioja wine buying guide

White wine with turkey

‘Barrel-fermented or barrel-matured white wine more than five years old would be ideal,’ said Longuère. 

He said examples include: ‘New World Chardonnay or Burgundy from Meursault or Chassagne-Montrachet, White Rioja Reserva or Gran Reserva, Sémillon-based white Pessac-Léognan in Bordeaux, [or] Chenin Blanc-based blends from South Africa.’

Chardonnay

A relatively full-bodied Chardonnay can be an enchanting accompaniment to your turkey, especially with traditional sides like bread sauce. 

Well-judged oak can bring some sweet spice notes, while creamy lactic acid may add depth alongside fruit flavours ranging from lemon and honey to ripe pear and quince. 

A backbone of acidity brings balance to the richness and should carve a path through all of those trimmings.

Good Chardonnays are often found in similar geographical areas to good Pinot Noir.

For those with the means and looking for something extra special, Decanter Burgundy correspondent Charles Curtis MW recently revisited the 2014 vintage in the grands crus of Chassagne- and Puligny-Montrachet.

Rosé and orange wines with turkey

Rosé needn’t just be for summer sipping. Longuère said fuller-bodied, more complex styles of rosé wines can be a hit with turkey at Christmas. 

Decanter’s Champagne correspondent, Tom Hewson, also wrote: ‘The [Christmas] main meal is tailor-made for Champagne’s deep and dark rosé de saignée.’ 

Many orange wines can be a great dining partner, wrote Ines Salpico, Decanter’s regional editor for Spain, Portugal and South America.

‘They usually have a herbal, savoury edge that brings a meal’s flavours to life, supported by gentle tannins and firm acidity.’

Search all Decanter wine reviews

This article has been updated in October 2025, including with new wine recommendations from Decanter experts.

Tasting notes: Wine with turkey inspiration

Examples of wines reviewed by Decanter experts at a range of different prices.

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Andy Howard MW, Melania Battiston and Victoria Daskal tasted 203 wines, with 13 Outstanding and 125 Highly Recommended

Cru Beaujolais 2022: Panel tasting scores

203 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 13

Highly recommended 125

Recommended 60

Commended 5

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their 2022 vintage reds from any of the 10 Beaujolais cru sub-regions (Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Régnié, St-Amour)

The judges were delighted by the quality on show from the highly regarded 2022 vintage.

Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie and Morgon led the way with four, three and two Outstanding wines respectively, but the judges were thrilled to see the strength in some of the lesser-known crus, with Chiroubles (the highest in altitude), St-Amour (most northerly alongside Juliénas) and Régnié (most recent AP) all featuring at least one wine at 95 points.

While this success won’t come as a surprise to fans of cru Beaujolais, the results might surprise those who are less familiar with what’s happening in the region today.

Scroll down to see notes and scores of the top-scoring wines from our Cru Beaujolais 2022 tasting

The brilliance of Beaujolais

Beaujolais was long renowned for light, early-drinking, ‘pear-drop and bubble-gum’ wines that were easy to drink but rarely memorable.

Today, the region is the source of some of France’s most terroir-focused wines, often delivering fine-wine quality at great price points.

Sommelier Melania Battiston said: ‘From an on-trade perspective, in many restaurants, we are still faced with the easy-drinking, cheerful representations of Beaujolais, [but] I would happily buy and list most of the bottles that were rated Recommended or above here.’

Victoria Daskal was also enthusiastic: ‘The tasting revealed a remarkable spectrum of possibilities within each village – a testament to the interplay of soils, microclimates, vineyard ages and producer styles.’

Each taster identified different crus as personal favourites. For Daskal, ‘Fleurie defied its delicate, floral reputation, spanning everything from light, invigorating 12% alcohols to dense, ripe 15.5% expressions’.

I was a big fan of Moulin-à-Vent, a powerhouse within the Beaujolais crus, with many wines already at the level of fine Burgundy from the Côte d’Or, while Battiston was impressed by Régnié: ‘For me, the most refined and elegant.’

Daskal also championed Morgon, which she felt offered ‘exceptional fruit concentration, precision and charm, plus a compelling mix of drinkability, ageworthiness and value’.

Overall, she said: ‘The classic crus showed a variety of styles, but the lesser-known crus certainly stood out, too. Régnié, Chénas and Chiroubles impressed, with distinct personalities rooted in their terroirs, showcasing mineral-driven profiles, striking freshness and consistently high quality.’

Click here to see more results from the Cru Beaujolais 2022 panel tasting

What to eat with Cru Beaujolais wines, by Fiona Beckett

Most people still see Beaujolais as a picnic wine, suitable only for pairing with charcuterie and mild soft cheeses such as brie.

True, it goes well with both, especially patés and terrines, but serious bottles such as Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent offer far more than that, the best rivalling red Burgundy for power, elegance and sophistication.

Think, then, of pairing them, particularly older vintages, with a fine roast chicken, feathered game such as duck, partridge or pheasant, or (remember this for later in the year) Christmas turkey, especially the Boxing Day leftovers.

They’re a natural with bistro classics such as kidneys with mustard, oeufs en meurette or hachis parmentier – the region is one of the last bastions of old-school French cooking.

Less obviously, it’s also good with Chinese food – if you want a red pairing, Beaujolais is as good as any – and (albeit lighter styles such as Fleurie) with sushi.

And don’t forget that delicious dessert of strawberries with, or rather in, Beaujolais. Roll on summer.

Cru Beaujolais 2022 panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Andy Howard MW is a Decanter contributing editor and DWWA Regional Chair. He runs his own consultancy, Vinetrades, focusing on wine education, judging, investment and sourcing

Melania Battiston is wine director at Cornus restaurant in London, and formerly assistant food & beverage manager for Aman Resorts. A CMS Advanced Sommelier, she runs her own consultancy and coaching company for hospitality and brands, Mel CnC

Victoria Daskal is a wine writer, presenter, consultant and WSET educator. In 2008, she completed the OIV MSc in International Wine Management, and among others has since worked for Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages and as managing editor of The World of Fine Wine

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Although Cru Beaujolais has been having its moment in the sun for a few years now, its younger, lighter-bodied ‘nouveau’ cousin is coming back into its own.

How Beaujolais Nouveau Day started

The tradition of Beaujolais Nouveau dates back to the 1800s. Winemakers would bottle their just-fermented wine, produced from grapes harvested just a few months prior, an unusually tight timeframe in winemaking terms.

This occasion called for a massive celebration among Beaujolais-based vignerons, as well as bar owners and restaurateurs in nearby Lyon who would buy these wines by the barrel.

The official release date of Beaujolais Nouveau wines shifted throughout the 20th century. Upon the creation of the Beaujolais AOC in 1937, wines from the region (including Nouveau-style bottlings) couldn’t be released until after 15 December of the same year.

But by 1951 the regulations changed, and the official release date became 15 November.

In 1985, the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) deemed the third Thursday of November as the official release date of Beaujolais Nouveau wines.

As interest in these wines developed abroad, winemakers have since begun releasing them even earlier, so as to have the bottles available on international shelves ready for the official release date.

What do Beaujolais Nouveau wines taste like?

Due to their lack of ageing, Beaujolais Nouveau wines are light-bodied and fruit-driven, marked by low levels of tannin and bright acidity.

Critics of Beaujolais Nouveau describe the wines as thin or lacking complexity, but the nouveau style is not meant for long-term ageing. Rather, these wines are best enjoyed youthful, slightly chilled and accompanied by a harvest-inspired meal.

Beaujolais wines are always made from Gamay and like many of the wines from this region, nouveau wines are produced using carbonic maceration.

The resulting wines show pink and purple hues and are fresh and often marked by flavours of sour cherry, strawberry and banana. They are often consumed slightly chilled.

Globally, the slogan Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! (New Beaujolais has arrived!) has become adopted worldwide.

Because of its early release date and fresh, food-friendly nature, Beaujolais Nouveau has become synonymous with Thanksgiving Day meals in the United States. In France, celebrations take place across the Beaujolais region and throughout the rest of the country.

Despite a crash in popularity and a tainted reputation in the early 2000s, due to a glut of lower-quality wines appearing on the market, Beaujolais Nouveau is enjoying a revival.

The success of Beaujolais Nouveau has lead other wine regions around the world to adopt a nouveau-style approach, releasing young wines just a few weeks after harvest and fermentation.

Where to drink Beaujolais Nouveau

For those who want to be part of the party and taste the juicy freshness of nouveau this year, we’ve put together a list of wine bars and restaurants in London where you can get your fill.

London spots

Carousel, Charlotte St

Crystal Palace Wine Club, Crystal Palace

Davy’s at Plantation Place

D Vine Cellar, Clapham North

Galvin, Spitalfields

Gordon’s Wine Bar, Charing Cross

Joyau, Wanstead Park

La Bouche, Broadway Market

La Compagnie de Vins Surnaturels, Neal’s Yard

La Fromagerie, Marylebone

Lady of the Grapes, Covent Garden

Le Beaujolais, Leicester Square

Le Garrick, Covent Garden

Little Cellars x Veraison, Camberwell

London Shell Co, Paddington

Maison François, Duke St

Marceline, Canary Wharf

Noble Rot, Lambs Conduit Street

Sesta, Hackney

Tap & Bottle, Union Street

The Remedy, Cleveland St

The Sourcing Table, Crystal Palace/Peckham

Top Cuvée, Highbury

Vindinista, Acton Central

This article was originally published in November 2021

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‘If people are more interested in the Loire these days, it’s because we have greatly profited from the changing climate’.

These are the words of Benoît Amirault, of Domaine Yannick Amirault in Bourgueil. It’s a sentiment echoed by many other red wine producers in the Loire Valley.

This is still a marginal climate for red wines, so the impact of the vintage is more pronounced here than in most other red wine regions.

Scroll down to see Beverley Blanning MW’s selection of the best new releases of red Loire wines

Recent years have seen some of the Loire’s most successful vintages yet for red wines. After the 2022 vintage, which Amirault describes as ‘great – a vintage I’d like to make every year,’ he euphemistically describes 2023 as ‘un millésime sport’, referring to the amount of activity required in the vines.

Thanks to the humidity, Amirault had to treat his vines for mildew 13 times during the growing season, compared with just five times in 2022.

The growing season

The 2023 vintage started out very well. There was no frost to speak of and the fruit set was good. It looked as if the Loire might be shaping up for a bumper harvest.

It was also a warm vintage: at France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), researcher Etienne Neethling calculated 2023 to be the second-warmest Loire growing season on record (second only to 2022).

Yet the two consecutive vintages could hardly be more different. Whereas 2022 was a year of persistent sunshine, heat and drought, 2023 was characterised by cloudy, cool and humid weather throughout most of the growing season, providing ideal conditions for fungal diseases.

Growers had to be vigilant to keep mildew and rot at bay. Heterogeneous weather was recorded across the region, but it was more a question of how badly each vineyard was suffering, rather than some areas doing well at the expense of others.

Summer strife

Then, at the end of August, a heat wave hit, with temperatures reaching 40°C. While the heat helped to complete ripening in some vineyards, in others its severity caused the vines to shut down, stalling ripening altogether.

The heat was quickly followed by a series of September storms, swelling the grapes and diluting the juice.

All in all, 2023 was another uniquely difficult harvest for Loire growers. Hervé Malinge, of Domaine des Sables Verts in Saumur-Champigny, comments, ‘It was a very challenging vintage. When we started, the acids were too high and the alcohol was too low; a week later the situation was reversed. It was hard to manage the fermentation.’

His solution was to remove half of the skins during the fermentation, to make a lighter, juicier wine. But the key to success in 2023, he says, was sorting fruit in the vineyard.

See all of Beverley Blanning MW’s top Loire latest releases here

What to expect

Already, comparisons are being made locally to the 2021 vintage. The red wines of both 2021 and 2023 are certainly for earlier drinking than the 2022s. Some of the youthful early releases from 2023 are very attractive, showing riper, rounder fruit than the somewhat lean 2021s, balanced by supple tannins.

Thierry Germain, of Domaine des Roches Neuves in Saumur-Champigny, says the 2023 vintage has produced ‘the flesh of 2022, with the finesse of 2021 and fine tannins’.

The majority of the wines recommended below are from the excellent 2022 vintage, another unusual year where growers were rewarded with sunshine and beautifully ripe, healthy grapes across all varieties.

There was some risk of over-extracted tannins in the drought-thickened skins of Cabernet Franc in 2022, so some of these wines need time. But for the most part, pure fruit shines through.

In Sancerre and the vineyards of the central Loire, the Pinot Noirs are succulent and full of charm, with beautifully ripe, balanced fruit. The Gamays of the Auvergne are also delightful, with fleshy fruit and no excess.

In summary, the 2023 vintage relied heavily on the skill and dedication of growers. Yields for reds were slightly above average and early tastings show wines that are light and refreshing in style, mostly for drinking in the next five to six years.

Growers have learned that they need to be ready for all eventualities, and to expect the unexpected.

Chinon-based Jérôme Billard, of Domaine de la Noblaie says, ‘The biggest challenge now is the climate; everything else we can manage.’

Loire red wines: Know your vintages

2019: Spring frosts affected many areas, reducing yields, but what remained produced concentrated wines with excellent balance and ageing potential. 5/5

2020: This was a very warm, high-quality vintage, although not quite at the level of 2019 across the board, due to some elevated alcohol levels. Nevertheless, some excellent wines were made. 4.5/5

2021: A very difficult vintage, affected first by severe frosts across the region and then by a cool summer, leaving smaller crops that struggled to ripen. The best producers made wines that are light, fragrant and really very attractive, but many other wines are rather lean and tart. 3/5

2022: An excellent vintage for red wines, with plush, ripe, generous fruit. A keeper, although many of the wines are already delicious now (see recommendations below) 5/5

2023: This vintage challenged the morale and resources of growers, who battled throughout the season for the health of their crop. Successful early releases show attractive wines with balanced, ripe fruit and gentle tannins. 4/5

Beverley Blanning MW’s book, The Wines of the Loire Valley, was published in October 2024 and is available to buy for £35

Decanter has partnered with Académie du Vin Library to offer Premium subscribers access to an exclusive discount for the book: use code DECLOIRE5 when purchasing the book here.

Beverley Blanning MW’s top Loire red latest releases:

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Beaujolais has long been misunderstood. The root cause was the introduction of Beaujolais Nouveau in the 1950s, which has been both a blessing and a curse for the region as a whole.

In recent years, however, there has been a quality revolution in Beaujolais, and serious wine lovers owe it to themselves to taste some of the top examples.

Because of the striking diversity of its terroir, the Beaujolais cru of Morgon is among the best places to start discovering the delights of the region.

The crus are standout single villages and are endowed with a great terroir and a long tradition of quality. Whether you are a long-time fan or a recent convert, you will find top quality and superb value in this village, with styles ranging from approachable and easy-drinking to concentrated and surprisingly age-worthy.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 20 top Morgon wines to try

The taste and style of Morgon wines

With a few exceptions, Beaujolais means Gamay, a grape that accounts for 97% of the plantings in the region. This unjustly maligned variety gained notoriety in the 14th century when Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, tried (unsuccessfully) to ban its cultivation in his lands, calling it, in his decree of 1395, a ‘very bad and very disloyal vine [that] produces a great abundance of bitter wine’. If only he knew!

While it is true that in some circumstances the vine can over-produce, when yields are limited and the grape is grown on its preferred soil (granite or schist), the results can be delicious.

Overproduction can lead to dilute, insipid wines and the popularity of Beaujolais Nouveau enhanced this tendency. The rush to turn grapes into wine in a couple of weeks also prompted producers to cut corners by using techniques such as heating the must to speed extraction (thermovinification).

The results were fruity, light and innocuous, and although the wine sold well for a time, sales have dropped by half since its heyday in the 1990s, according to French magazine Les Echos.

Fortunately, Nouveau is not the only style either the region or Gamay has to offer. The best wines can be deeply coloured and fragrant, with plummy fruit and complexity from floral notes, a hint of saline minerality and an edge of brambly wild herbs from the use of whole bunches.

Often the alcohol is moderate, acidity is low and the tannins are silky and soft: eminently drinkable wines.

Morgon’s best wines share these virtues yet age well, too. The idea that they must be consumed within the year is a misconception. Several years ago, I enjoyed a bottle from 1934 that had gracefully stood the test of time for more than 80 years.

History

Beaujolais once enjoyed great prestige. Burgundian winemaker (and Beaujolais native) Philippe Pacalet says the Mommessin family bought the Burgundy grand cru Clos de Tart in 1932 because ‘they couldn’t afford land in Moulin-à-Vent’.

The Great Depression and World War II ended that prestige, however, and the post-war years saw the rise of Beaujolais Nouveau.

Among those pushing against this trend was the Beaujolais négociant, chemist and author Jules Chauvet (1907–1989). Chauvet’s scientific research into the action of yeast and the carbonic maceration technique earned him the title ‘the father of natural wine’.

Chauvet soon gathered several winemaker disciples, including Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Guy Breton. This quartet of winemakers were based in and around the appellation of Morgon, and their savvy American importer Kermit Lynch took to calling them the ‘Gang of Four’.

Terroir and climats

Morgon is one of the 10 Beaujolais crus, a series of village-level appellations clustered in the north of the Beaujolais region, centred on granite and schist soils, that sit at the top of the quality pyramid.

Morgon was one of the first crus to be recognised with an appellation in 1936, along with Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent. It was also among the first to acknowledge sub-divisions, called climats, within the appellation.

Unlike Burgundy, where a climat is most often composed of a single lieu-dit (named place), the climats in Morgon group together several lieux-dits with similar characteristics. Morgon is the only Beaujolais cru to use this climat system.

The use of these climats, however, has complicated the growers’ quest for broader recognition. Beaujolais crus such as Fleurie have applied to the INAO for premier cru status for some of their vineyards.

While plans appear to be moving forward slowly, the authorities have told Morgon vignerons that their climats must be simplified before the same can be done for them.

The climats of Morgon

Les Charmes along the western edge of the appellation includes some of the highest elevation sites and sandy granite soils that produce a perfumed, lighter style.

Corcelette, north of Les Charmes, has lighter granite soils but less sand; the wines can be very aromatic and deeply coloured.

Côte du Py is a dome-shaped hill that rises to 350m, with volcanic subsoils covered with schist, which gives the wines a unique flavour, full body and density. The intertwining of blue schist with iron oxide from the volcanic strata underneath provides a friable soil called ‘roche pourrie’ that is perfect for Gamay.

Douby is to the northeast of the village, on granite soils that border Fleurie.

Grand Cras, at the southern edge of the appellation, has another outcropping of schist surrounded by granitic sand and scree.

Les Micouds, east of the village of Villié-Morgon, is on well-drained, east-facing slopes that ripen easily and produce a lighter style of wine.

Winemaking

The Gang of Four all shared a devotion to Chauvet’s natural precepts, such as fermenting without sulphur and the use of his technique of carbonic maceration. In this method, grapes are placed as whole clusters in a sealed tank and covered with carbon dioxide to produce an oxygen-free environment.

They are left to macerate and begin to ‘ferment’ from the inside out. However, this process is not a fermentation as such, since yeast is not yet involved. After several weeks of maceration, the grapes are crushed, and the juice is fermented customarily. The results deliver lush wines with forward fruit and supple structure that delight the hedonist.

Winemaking in Morgon is not limited to carbonic maceration, however. Some winemakers use whole clusters without sealing the tank (semi-carbonic maceration), and the Burgundian influence has led some, such as Fabien Duperray of Domaine Jules Desjourneys, to adopt the Burgundian method of destemming some or all of the harvest.

Several Burgundy producers also produce Beaujolais this way, such as Louis Jadot at Château des Jacques. With such a variety of styles and the presence of such quality-driven producers, there is something for every wine lover in Morgon.

Eight names to know

Domaine Marcel Lapierre

Domaine Marcel Lapierre was founded in 1909 by Michel Lapierre, whose son Camille joined him at the winery in 1925. Camille’s son Marcel was born in 1950, and took over the domaine in 1973. Under the influence of Jules Chauvet he decided to vinify without sulphur, and he farmed using organic principles from the 1980s.

Marcel’s son Mathieu joined the domaine in 2004 and oversaw official organic certification; he was joined by his sister Camille in 2013. The wines are made using classic carbonic maceration of nine to 35 days, according to the cuvée.

Domaine Jules Desjourneys

Fabien Duperray is a breath of fresh air who is among France’s foremost fine wine agents. In 2006, he purchased a Beaujolais estate in the village of La Chapelle de Guinchay. Duperray began organic conversion immediately, and was certified in 2009.

Although the domaine is certified organic and follows biodynamic principles, he does not subscribe whole-heartedly to the Chauvet system or the ‘Gang of Four’ precepts, since he customarily uses a maximum of 30% whole clusters in the fermentation. His blended Morgon and single-climat bottlings from Micouds and Grand Cras are definitely worth seeking out.

Domaine Laurent Gauthier

The Gauthier family has been growing grapes since 1834, and today the domaine is run by Laurent Gauthier and his two sons, Jason and Elie. The family farms 23ha, mainly in Morgon, and obtained organic certification in 2023.

The fermentation is done in a semi-carbonic style, and no sulphur is added until bottling. The most serious wines at this domaine are the single-vineyard Morgons, which ferment for 10-14 days before ageing until the next harvest in large, older oak upright casks.

Domaine Jean-Marc Burgaud

Burgaud created his property in 1989, and farms 17.5ha in total today, including 12.5ha in Morgon and another 5ha of Beaujolais Villages in Lantignié. Most of his vineyards are planted with old vines (50-70 years old). The fermentation is done as whole clusters using a semi-carbonic process.

The single-climat bottlings from Cras, Charmes, Corcelette, and Côte du Py have slightly extended maceration. The maturation is done exclusively in tank, save the Javernières and the cuvée he calls James (after James Bond), both aged in used casks for a year.

Château des Jacques

Château des Jacques was originally the property of the Sornay family, who used it principally as a residence. Their successor, Amédée Rousseau, established the property (located in Moulin-à-Vent) as a wine estate along Burgundian production models. The domaine was purchased in 1996 by Burgundian négociant Louis Jadot.

Jadot added to its acquisition in 2001 by purchasing 27ha of land in Morgon in the climats of Corcelette and Côte du Py. It has continued the winemaking traditions of the estate, destemming the grapes, fermenting slowly, and ageing in cask (25% new) until the next harvest.

Domaine Mee Godard

After training as an oenologist and making wine in several French wine regions, Korean-born vintner Mee Godard visited Beaujolais almost by chance and fell in love with the region. In 2013, she acquired a few hectares in and around Morgon, which she has since grown to 7.8ha.

Godard uses organic techniques, and the domaine is in conversion. She picks fairly early and sorts rigorously to achieve very modest yields for the appellation. Godard vinifies the grapes almost completely as whole clusters, punching down and pumping over in concrete tanks for 3-12 days to deliver her solid, complex wines.

Domaine Jean Foillard

Jean Foillard began to work his family’s vineyards in 1981 and soon adopted the methods of Jules Chauvet. The grapes are macerated at low temperatures over several weeks before crushing and finishing the alcoholic fermentation.

The pride of the domaine is 8.6ha in Côte du Py, where the oldest vines are over a century old. The wine from there is bottled as Cuvée 𝛑 (Pi), also known as Cuvée 3.14. This very rare bottling can top £400 per magnum and is one of the few Beaujolais wines that trade regularly at auction.

Domaine Guy Breton

At just under 7ha, Domaine Guy Breton is modest in size but not reputation. Breton took over from his grandfather in 1986. He is based in Morgon, where the wine from a hectare of the oldest vines is bottled as P’tit Max, including some more than a century old.

The range is completed by the Morgon Vieilles Vignes (made with ‘only’ 80-year-old vines) and several cuvées produced from grapes outside the village. The grapes are fermented as whole clusters with a fairly short maceration in order to produce a lighter, fresher, easier-to-drink style.

20 top Morgon wines to try:

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On 17 April 1924, the area which later became the Appellation d’Origine (AO) Moulin-à-Vent, was delimited – one of the very first in France. Precisely 100 years later, the stars have aligned for this historic Beaujolais cru with the submission of an application to elevate 14 of the appellation’s best sites to premier cru status.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for 30 Moulin-à-Vent wines

Standing on one of the high ridges of Moulin-à-Vent and looking to the north, one can easily see the southerly part of the Mâconnais. Pouilly-Fuissé lies in a direct line no more than 10km away and, with that AOP gaining premier cru status from the 2020 vintage, it seems that Moulin-à-Vent – perhaps the leading appellation within Beaujolais – wants part of the same action. But is this a realistic or justifiable objective?

Moulin-à-Vent is certainly one of the finest of the Beaujolais crus, yet remains under the radar. At a press event in early April, journalists from around the world were able to taste 100 Moulin wines from the 2020 vintage.

It is no exaggeration to say virtually every wine would be enjoyed by consumers at all levels of interest and budget. These are wines to enjoy on release, with the best examples capable of graceful ageing for a minimum of 10 years – some for much longer.

Moulin-à-Vent is based around its iconic windmill, an imposing structure 5.5 metres tall dating back to 1550, which continued to operate as a mill until 1819.

The 1924 appellation centred around the villages of Romanèche and Thorins, itself evolving from a 19th century classification created to reduce the possibility of wine fraud – a common occurrence at the time.

In 1872, following the established Burgundian convention, the previously identified ‘First Class’ vineyard of Romanèche was linked with the village of Thorins, resulting in the name seen today – Romanèche-Thorins.

Moulin-à-Vent – Key facts

Area under vine: 640ha

Number of producers: 252

Number of lieux-dits: 71

Average altitude: 260m

Average age of vines: 55 years

Annual production: 1, 480,000 bottles

A natural home for Gamay

Even before 1924, Moulin-à-Vent’s wines commanded prices and a reputation higher than most of the grands crus in Burgundy. Yet today, the wines of Moulin-à-Vent – as with all Beaujolais crus – face an uphill struggle to be considered as even close to the quality seen in the vineyards of Bourgogne.

Fine-quality red wine from Beaujolais is a very different proposition to that found further north. Here it is the Gamay grape rather than Pinot Noir that rules. Soils are just as complex and varied as those found in the Côte d’Or, yet they are strikingly different, with eroded granite the major influence compared to the clay and limestone shaping the wines of Gevrey, Beaune and Vosne.

Granite bedrock dating back over 300 million years provides the substructure, with thin, sandy top soils reining in Gamay’s natural desire to over-crop. Predominantly pink in colour, erosion has produced sandy soils from weathered feldspars, black mica, quartz and other minerals.

Moulin-à-Vent has long been considered the king of Beaujolais, with a reputation as a wine with the potential to age many years, but it would be wrong to think of Moulin-à-Vent primarily as an appellation that requires extended ageing.

The wines now being produced by the top estates deliver a combination of freshness, approachability and vibrant dark berry and cherry fruit characters, all at very reasonable prices in the context of Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Oak is used sparingly with ageing accentuating the elegance and finesse of Gamay, resulting in wines that bear comparison with both Pinot Noir (and in some cases, Nebbiolo).

Bruno Pin, Président du Cru Moulin-à-Vent, emphasises that the push for greater recognition and premier cru status is ‘very much a collective effort’. Leading this initiative are some of the area’s top producers such as Château du Moulin-à-Vent (run by the dynamic Edouard Parinet) and Château des Jacques, part of the much larger Louis Jadot group.

Jadot’s investment in Moulin-à-Vent confirms its belief in the appellation, a view supported by the arrival of other renowned Burgundian names such as Louis Boillot, Albert Bichot and Thibault Liger-Belair.

Moulin-à-Vent is one of the larger Beaujolais crus, with 640ha under vine. In comparison, the vineyards of Fleurie total 840ha, Morgon 1,090ha, with Brouilly the largest at 1,200ha. At the other end of the scale, Chiroubles and St-Amour total 315ha each.

Chénas is the smallest (250ha) and lies just to the north of Moulin-à-Vent. Somewhat confusingly, the village of Chénas is situated within the Moulin-à-Vent appellation.

The push for premier cru

Old vines are prevalent, with a strong push from many producers to embrace organic methods. Although Moulin-à-Vent has a reputation as the most structured of the Beaujolais crus, the wines today are nearly always approachable when young, yet with the top cuvées capable of ageing at least five years.

Moulin-à-Vent has 71 lieux-dits, with significant differences in the depth of granitic sandy soils, pockets of gravel, and the presence of minerals such as magnesium and iron oxide. These combine with elevation, exposure to wind and sun, contributing to individual variations between vineyards.

The 14 lieux-dits submitted to the Institute for Origins and Quality (INAO) for elevation to premier cru include some well-known names. Le Moulin-à-Vent, Les Thorins, Les Verillats and La Rochelle are located adjacent to or above the windmill on granitic soils of varied depths, while La Roche lies 100m below the mill on shallow topsoil.

Rochegrès is the highest lieu-dit, with strong winds and diurnal range giving this site a distinct freshness. Leading producers include Château du Moulin-à-Vent, Château des Jacques, Domaine Labruyère, Domaine du Granit, Richard Rottiers and Maison Jean Loron.

It is likely that INAO approval of the sites proposed for elevation to premier cru status will take up to 10 years. This gives consumers a golden opportunity to explore Moulin-à-Vent’s many different terroirs before the rest of the world catches up.

Sharing many similar characters with Pinot Noir, one significant difference is that the vast majority offer exceptional value for money. The wines of Moulin-à-Vent are to be highly recommended.

Moulin-à-Vent: Producers to look out for

Château du Moulin-à-Vent

Although not a winemaking family with a long history, the Parinets (today with Edouard at the helm) are making waves in the appellation. Purchased from the Damoy family in 2009, the estate is a key force in raising the profile of the Moulin-a-Vent appellation.

Château du Moulin-à-Vent (located right by the famous windmill) was known as Château des Thorins until being renamed in 1936, when the appellation of Moulin-à-Vent was officially designated. Parinet (and winemaker Brice Laffond who joined the team in 2013) initially reorganised the vineyards and switched to organic practices. The estate expects to receive certification from 2024.

Parinet is a strong advocate for massale selection, identifying specific plots and vines for replanting in the right terroir. Château du Moulin-à-Vent produces a wide range of wines ranging from the estate blend to three single-vineyard wines (Les Vérillats, Champ de Cour and La Rochelle). The line-up is completed with several micro-cuvées – Aux Caves, Grands Savarins and Clos des Londres. All are of excellent quality and worth seeking out.

Château des Jacques

The recent history of the estate dates back to 1924 when entrepreneur and wine enthusiast Amédée Rousseau purchased the mansion in Romanèche-Thorins, together with 18th century vaulted cellars and 2ha of Moulin-à-Vent. Within four years, Rousseau had expanded holdings to 60ha and implemented the Burgundian technique of destemming – then non-existent on a large scale in Beaujolais. Rousseau is also credited with introducing the practice of domaine bottling.

In 1996, Maison Louis Jadot purchased the estate, it today comprising 69ha across three crus and five appellations. 35ha are within Moulin-à-Vent, with Château des Jacques’ holdings include the lieux-dits of Le Carquelin, La Roche, Champ de Cour and Thorins.

La Roche is situated below the windmill, Clos de Thorins faces full south on deeper granitic soil, Clos du Grand Carquelin lies on deeper granitic sand and clay soils, while Clos de Rochegrès lies at 361m on steep, free-draining soils.

Maison Joseph Burrier, Château de Beauregard

Joseph Burrier is a significant force in the Mâconnais and Beaujolais, with over 60ha in total and a history dating back 17 generations. In 1407, a Jehan Burrier was involved in the establishing of the border between Burgundy and Beaujolais. The Mâconnais branch of the family (Deshaires) purchased Château de Beauregard in 1854, with the Burrier and Deshaires joined by marriage in 1899.

Maison Joseph Burrier was established in 1977 by Jacques Burrier, and today his son Frédéric Marc runs the business. Burrier was influential in establishing the promotion of 22 Pouilly-Fuissé lieux-dits to premier cru status.

The overall business now comprises five domaines and châteaux, spanning 15 appellations. Domaine Joseph Burrier is located on the Poncié site in Fleurie, and was created in 2007; this domaine has been organically certified since 2021. Château de Beauregard is another string to Maison Burrier’s bow, with 1.8ha of Moulin-à-Vent Clos des Pérelles in Romanèche-Thorins and 0.6ha above the village of Chénas.

Domaine Labruyère

A renowned estate dating back to 1850 when Jean-Marc Labruyère settled in the hamlet of Les Thorins, acquiring 10ha of vineyards. The estate has passed through several generations with the further purchase of top sites, including the famous Clos du Moulin-à-Vent – now a monopole of the domaine and their ‘jewel in the crown’.

In 2008, Edouard Labruyère took control, bringing an even greater focus on the special terroirs of Le Clos, Le Carquelin and Champ de Cour. Nadine Gublin is the winemaker, with Michel Rovere responsible for the vineyard – a position he has held for 40 years.

Champ de Cour faces southeast, with pebbles over a dense, almost impenetrable layer of clay. Le Carquelin (1.75ha) has light, sandy clay soils that are high in acidity and low in organic matter. Le Clos is the only monopole in the region; just under 1ha, located under the windmill; it’s a wine which has the potential to age extremely well.

Maison Jean Loron

A significant producer with interests in both the Mâconnais and Beaujolais. Wine-growing dates back to 1711, originally in the village of Chénas, where Jean Loron decided to focus on viticulture and who pioneered the identification of special lieux-dits and climats.

The business evolved over the next few centuries and was linked with the Parisian wine merchant Nicolas in the 1900s, before partnering with Maison Louis Jadot in 1945. Xavier Barbet ran the estate from 1978 to 2016, before passing control over to Philippe Bardet.

Maison Jean Loron owns many estates such as Château Bellevue in Morgon, Domaine de la Vieille Eglise in Juliénas and Domaine Jean Loron (Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent). Loron produces a couple of wines from Champ de Cour, together with the rich, structured and ageworthy La Roche.

Domaine des Pierres Roses

Domaine des Pierres Roses is the Beaujolais arm of the charismatic Thibault Liger-Belair. Liger-Belair has always been a lover of both the wines from, and the region of, Beaujolais, setting out in 2009 to recreate what he had achieved in the Côte d’Or. Like many others, his objective was to isolate individual terroirs and seek to express their own individual characters.

Liger-Belair compares the variation within small areas to that seen in Burgundy and has worked to focus on each site’s terroir, rather than just creating a more generic Moulin-à-Vent. The first plots were purchased in 2008 with the first wine made under his control being 2009. All plots were converted to organic and biodynamic farming from the start.

In addition to a premium Beaujolais-Villages and Moulin-à-Vent, the domaine bottles Les Rouchaux (2ha), Champ de Cour (1.65ha), Les Perrelles (0.96ha), La Roche (2.25ha) and a top-end, limited edition magnum titled ‘Les Vignes Centenaires’.

Domaine de Rochegrès

Leading Burgundy producer Albert Bichot purchased the 5.2ha site of Domaine de Rochegrès in 2014. Two wines are produced – Le Roc, which is a blend from younger vines planted on around 3ha in La Rochelle, Aux Monts and Rochegrès, together with its other cuvée, ‘Rochegrès’, which comes from a 2.2ha plot of vines aged between 80-100 years on lean, granitic soils in the heart of the lieu-dit.

Technical director Matthieu Mangenot feels that the wines are now starting to show their best, with Rochegrès a particularly fine example of the appellation. Semi-carbonic maceration is used at the start of the fermentation, with maturation in 350-litre barrels (50% of the blend with 20% new oak) and the rest of the blend aged in stainless steel.

Domaine du Granit

The family started working in Moulin-à-Vent in 1918 and today the fourth generation (Franck Bessone) is in charge of the estate, with vineyards in Fleurie (0.65ha), St-Amour (0.3ha) and Chénas (0.85ha) in addition to 9.5ha of Moulin-à-Vent.

Bessone is committed to stimulating the vines with ploughing and cover crops, together with restricting yields (averaging between 25-40hl/ha). Recognising that Gamay has a tendency to over-crop, Bessone notes controlling this is a key way to ensure high quality.

Domaine du Granit’s vineyards are primarily southeast to east-facing and lie up to 280m on granitic soil combined with quartzite pebbles.

Domaine Richard Rottiers

Richard Rottiers is the son of Lyne Marchive, founder of Domaine des Malandes in Chablis. He works both in Chablis and Beaujolais, where he runs his own winery – Domaine Richard Rottiers. The estate was set up in 2007, initially with 3ha under vine (aged between 40-80 years) and now totalling 5ha.

Rottiers started working towards organic farming in 2012, with a key focus being on restricting yields, encouraging the vine roots to dig further into the soil and natural treatments for maladies.

Vinification is parcel by parcel with semi-carbonic maceration at the start of fermentation, with soft extraction utilising remontage and délestages. Ageing is in foudres and oak barrels for up to 12 months depending on the cuvée.

Domaine de la Sionnère

The recent history of the domaine started in 1996 when Thomas Patenôtre acquired 6ha of vines, renaming the estate Domaine de la Sionnère. Since then, Thomas and his wife Estelle have expanded the estate, which now also comprises plantings in Fleurie and Chénas. They also produce a very refined white Beaujolais-Villages.

In addition to their fine Moulin-à-Vent, the Patenôtres produce an intriguing and fine wine aged for 18 months in amphora. Coming from the Champ de Cour, with grapes selected from 100-year-old vines, production is limited to 700 bottles.

See notes and scores for 30 Moulin-à-Vent wines

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Winemakers and drinkers alike have embraced Gamay for its versatility, as well as its vibrant acidity and juicy fruit flavours, boosting the grape’s popularity to an all-time high.

Renowned in Beaujolais, where half of the grape’s 30,000 global hectares are grown, its best expression comes from cool climate regions, where the grape ripens early. It’s no surprise, therefore, that it’s finding its North American home in Canada.

But where it was once predominantly used and viewed as a blending grape, producers today are increasingly focusing on varietal and single-vineyard expressions.

Scroll down for 15 Canadian Gamays worth seeking out

Remarkable transformation

Canada’s wine scene has experienced a remarkable transformation over the last two decades. What was once a country famed only for ice wine is now being sought after for its varied offering.

‘It’s safe to say, “those who know” know that Canada makes some great still and sparkling wines,’ says Canadian writer and judge Janet Dorozynski, who works with the Canadian wine industry on international business development. ‘Perception has been shifting thanks to concerted international promotional efforts,’ she adds.

Canada’s own wine journey somewhat mirrors that of Gamay. Around the world, Gamay’s great handicap has long been its association with cheap and cheerful Beaujolais Nouveau. ‘It’s not perceived as serious,’ says Dorozynski.

But, thanks to more complex expressions coming from Beaujolais itself, bolstered by adoption in countries and regions as far-flung as New Zealand, Oregon, Chile – and Canada – opinions are changing.

Gamay is often overshadowed by the Burgundian varieties that thrive in cool climates, but it is emerging as an unexpected Canadian darling. Winemakers in both British Columbia (BC) and Ontario are crafting Gamay wines that reflect the grape’s natural attributes and the nuances of their terroirs.

Ontario

Gamay represents a mere 3% of Ontario’s VQA wine production by volume. While small, it’s much friendlier to make than its aristocratic Burgundian parent, Pinot Noir.

Ilya Senchuk, co-founder and winemaker at Niagara’s Leaning Post Wines, explains: ‘It’s much more like Chardonnay in the sense that you can do lots of different things with it.’

From rosé to a component in bold and structured blends to lighter varietal expression, ‘you can use the same grapes to make three or four different styles of wine’.

There’s no doubt that varietal expressions are where the grape is seeing the most growth. VQA Ontario reports that Gamay’s production volume went from around 170,000 litres to just over 300,000 between 2014 and 2023.

That increase was shared across 40 producers, up from just over 20 who included the grape in their portfolio in 2014. One in particular, Thomas Bachelder, produces eight single-vineyard Niagara Cru Gamay Noirs (and one blend) under his annual ‘La Violette’ release.

‘It’s a lovable weed,’ Bachelder says, referring to the grape’s ability to yield up to six tons per acre in a good vintage [roughly 114hl/ha – but dependant on planting density], double that of Pinot Noir. Bachelder’s Gamay portfolio centres solely on the Niagara Escarpment, spanning four sub-appellations.

‘We’re on clay and limestone, and so is half of Beaujolais. The lower half outside the crus, the Bas Beaujolais and the Pierre Dorées are the definitions of clay and limestone,’ he explains when comparing Niagara’s terroir to Gamay’s French homeland.

Senchuk adds: ‘There aren’t too many places in the New World that have a similar soil and climate to the Old World, but Niagara is it.’

British Columbia

Western Canada is full of diverse terroirs for Gamay, with expressions coming from multiple Geographical Indications (GIs), including Vancouver Island, Thompson Valley, Okanagan Valley, and Similkameen Valley.

The Okanagan’s valley floor is too warm to grow Gamay, so, ‘you tend to find most successful examples further north or at higher altitudes,’ says Ryan de Witte, winemaker at Rust Wine Co, which makes its Gamay from Similkameen Valley grapes.

‘We have two main things in our favour: a drying prevailing wind that allows us to farm the grapes with limited disease pressure and higher mountains that shade the vineyards at the warmest time of day,’ he explains.

De Witte is a former colleague of Ilya Senchuk at Leaning Post and was able to segue his Gamay cultivation across the country. ‘In Ontario, where the acidities tend to be higher, the wines require more barrel ageing. It takes longer for them to resolve and unwind. Here [in BC], they tend to be more open earlier in their evolution.’

Statistics from BC Winegrowers show that Gamay was once among the top five red varieties planted in the province, along with Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc.

However, Syrah took its place in the early 2000s. Despite being ousted from the top five, Gamay plantings have increased substantially over the last 15 years, from 57ha (143 acres) in 2008 to 103ha (256 acres) in 2022, a province-wide increase of 44%.

In those years, however, BC has experienced increasingly unpredictable weather, including growing-season wildfires and, recently, two back-to-back winters with harsh cold snaps in the Okanagan, resulting in a significant crop losses.

Dorozynski cites recently published VineAlert research, which has uncovered Gamay as one of Canada’s most cold-resistant Vitis vinifera varieties. It ‘warrants further study to assist with replanting decisions,’ she says.

A timely remark as BC’s provincial government recently announced C$70 million (£41million) to help producers replace damaged, diseased and low-producing vines, plants, and trees with climate-resilient varieties that produce in-demand, premium fruit.

Canadian Gamay is helping to reshape the country’s wine landscape. With its versatility, regional expressions, and resilience to climate challenges, the grape is carving a distinct niche.

It may help solidify Canada’s position as a serious player in the fine wine conversation. ‘Wineries need to put their best foot forward and make an effort to have trade and media taste and learn more about what makes Canadian Gamay exciting,’ Dorozynski concludes.

Tasting notes for 15 Canadian Gamays:

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In many parts of the Loire Valley , producers attest to a complicated 2023 vintage. While many producers began picking at the beginning of September, the harvest will continue into October.

It has been especially difficult in Anjou, and far from easy in Saumur and Touraine . However, it has been considerably less difficult in Sancerre , Pouilly and the Upper Loire.

It is challenging to succinctly sum up a vintage such as 2023, as it is very variable depending on the grape variety and the sector. For instance, there has been a good harvest in Azay-le-Rideau, but a more complicated one in nearby Chinon, despite their proximity. Even within the same parcel of vines there can be considerable differences.

The growing season

Overall, 2023 is a potentially very large vintage but likely to be of variable quality – a year when producers have faced challenges during the growing season.

Fortunately there was no serious frost this year. Bud break brought a large volume of potential grapes, and this was confirmed by a rapid flowering in dry and sunny conditions at the end of May and the first part of June. Later on in June is when the strong mildew pressure started, so it was essential to spray against it regularly and at exactly the right moment.

The most successful parts of the Loire this year are at the two extremes – the Pays Nantais (which encompasses the Muscadet appellations) in the west, and the Central and Upper Loire (which takes in Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and some of the lesser known appellations such as the Côte Roannaise) to the east.

Exploring Les Monts Damnés: the unofficial ‘cru’ of Sancerre

Pays Nantais

Because the Melon de Bourgogne variety is early ripening, Muscadet producers were able to pick during the heatwave at the beginning of September before the heavy rains started midway through the month.

Vincent Lieubeau, winemaker at Famille Lieubeau in the Pays Nantais, said: ‘We started harvesting on 4 September during the hot weather. Our Muscadet is very good and concentrated, as the potential alcohol rose by nearly two degrees in just one week due to the heat. The yield is around 50hl/ha with 11.8% alcohol’.

Central and Upper Loire

In the Central Loire, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé it was very dry during late July and August, so producers welcomed the September rains that brought their grapes to maturity and swelled them. There was, however, a violent storm on 17 September which brought down trees in a campsite in Saint-Satur, meaning many of the picking staff had to find new accommodation – an additional pressure on producers.

Vincent Grall, of his eponymous domaine in Sancerre, said: ‘Picking started on 8 September, but it is difficult to find pickers. Our Sauvignon is around 12.5% ​​potential alcohol.’

Benoit Fouassier, of Domaine Fouassier in Sancerre, said: ‘We started picking on 13 September. The Pinot Noir is fully ripe at between 14%-15.5% alcohol and our Sauvignon between 13%-14%.’

In the Upper Loire, Romain Paire, of Domaine des Pothiers in the Côte Roannaise, said: ‘We started picking on Tuesday 12 September. Rain on that Thursday swelled the grapes, giving us fully ripe fruit.’

In Saint-Pourçain, Domaine des Bérioles, Clos de Breuilly and Domaine Grosbot-Barbara have all had successful harvests. In addition, 2023 is the first vintage from the remarkable, steep, south-facing slopes of Mont Georges within the Saint-Pourçain appellation. The project to reclaim these vineyards, which were abandoned 60 years ago, has taken over 20 years to come to fruition, with the first parcel of Gamay and Pinot Noir planted in 2020.

It is noticeable that there is much less mildew damage here.

Anjou-Saumur and Touraine

The picture is different and more variable further west in Anjou-Saumur and Touraine.

‘2023 is like a vintage of 20-30 years ago, when very careful selection of grapes was essential,’ said Jean-Philippe Blot, of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Montlouis.

Antoine Daviau, of Domaine de Bablut in Anjou, describes it as ‘a year of extremes!’

‘We went from a lack of water in the early part of the season to an excess of rain. From 1 July to 28 September we had 220mm of rain,’ he said.

In Chinon, Jérôme Billard, winemaker at Domaine de la Noblaie, reported 172mm of rain between 1 August and 26 September, with 80mm falling between 11 and 26 September – a huge amount, considering 172mm is about a third of the average annual rainfall.

It is easy to see who was successful at containing the mildew and who wasn’t. There are parcels where there are virtually no leaves left, making it very difficult for the grapes to ripen properly.

Success was only achieved through spraying frequently. Daviau sprayed 11 times, as did Vanessa Cherruau of Château de Plaisance in Chaume. Billard sprayed 14 times including four times during the 21 June – the most difficult week, while Lieubeau reported spraying 15 times. ‘Because of the regular rains we also had a busy job keeping the grass and other vegetation under control. By August we were exhausted!’ he said.

Ivan Massonnat of Domaine Belargus in Anjou and Domaine de Beauséjour in Chinon, said: ‘We succeeded in controlling the mildew except for the Coteau des Treilles, which overlooks the river Layon, because our caterpillar tractor broke down at a critical time, so the vines have lost almost all of their leaves.’

In addition to mildew, levels of rot in Touraine and Anjou were high, especially for Chenin Blanc . Cabernet Franc is variable but had less rot.

Most worrying is the incidence of acid rot, also called sour rot, which can turn wine into vinegar. Pickers had to carefully examine bunches and cut out acid rotten grapes, easily recognized as it turns white grapes orange. Unfortunately the affected grapes may well be hidden inside the bunch and not visible unless the bunch is cut open. Naturally this presents a challenge for those that pick by machine. Jean-Hubert Lebreton of Domaine des Rochelles in Anjou said: ‘We cut off all the rotten grapes by hand before using our picking machine.’

The levels of alcohol are generally considerably lower here than recent vintages such as 2018, 2019 and 2020. The average to date is between 12% and 13.5%. Adrien Moreau, of Domaine Belargus, said: ‘We are around 12.5%, which since we use native yeasts will rise to around 13% by the end of fermentation.’

Due to the large volume of the harvest and the weather conditions, there are reports that some producers in Anjou are currently struggling to get their grapes above 9% or 10% alcohol.

The news is much more positive for Sauvignon Blanc and the reds – Gamay , Cabernet Franc and Côt ( Malbec ) in the Cher Valley in the Touraine appellation, where the grapes are both plentiful and healthy.

There will be little sweet wine made this year partly due to the conditions and the lack of consumer demand, although there may be exceptions from healthy parcels. The 2023 vintage will continue well into October.

Despite the difficulties, the grape juice and fermenting wines I tasted throughout the Loire were all clean with no off flavors – a testament to a very rigorous selection of grapes by some of the Loire’s best producers. However, overall it is very likely that there will be big variations in the quality of the finished wines.

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The general saying that the southern Beaujolais growing area is limestone soil and the 10 crus to the north are on granitic soils is, in reality, too simplistic.

A comprehensive soil survey has confirmed local vignerons’ knowledge of the diverse terroirs found in Beaujolais, giving fuel for cru applications to INAO as well as to UNESCO.

Growers have long recognised the pockets of prime land that produce exceptional quality Gamay, declaring these as lieux-dits on their labels in order to communicate the characteristic wines they produce. Some of these lieux-dits are widely known and sought out, such as Côte du Py in Morgon, La Madone in Fleurie, and Champ de Cour in Moulin-à-Vent. Many more were identified over 100 years ago, even before the creation of the 10 Beaujolais crus themselves.

Scroll down for 10 expressive Beaujolais wines to seek out

The big dig

Between 2009 and 2018, Inter Beaujolais collaborated with the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture on a detailed investigation into the soils of the Beaujolais wine growing region, conducted by leading soil study office Sigales. This resulted in a precise soil map of the Beaujolais area.

The exploration included over 15,000 auger surveys (which involves drilling cylindrical holes into the ground) to collect soil samples well below the surface, as well as digging over 1,000 soil pits up to two metres deep. Far beyond limestone and granite, over 300 soil types were discovered and documented, revealing a beautifully complex geological picture.

The region’s soil history dates back over 500 million years, and the reason the evidence still exists in the vineyards is because Beaujolais was spared during the glacial period; its old rocks and sandy soils were not washed away by melting glaciers.

A brief geological history of Beaujolais

The Devonian era (400 million years ago) was an era of underwater volcanic eruptions and development of ocean life, resulting in the creation of blue stones (pierres bleues). These are found throughout Juliénas, the Côte du Py lieu-dit in Morgon, and Côte de Brouilly.

Brouilly (the area surrounding the Mont Brouilly) is the largest of the crus with the most diverse selection of soil types: granites, blue stones, scree and limestone sediments.

In the Carboniferous period (320 million years ago) – when the continents collided together forming Pangea – granite was formed, producing the famous pink granite of Chiroubles and Fleurie.

The Triassic period (240 million years ago) was the transition point between ancient bedrock and the more recent sedimentary and limestone soils. This period contributed quartz and sandstone, as well as clay and marl from sea deposits. The diverse combination of calcareous, granite and alluvial soils found in Moulin-à-Vent and Saint-Amour date back to this period.

Reaching for premier cru status

Having uncovered what generations of producers long suspected, the soil study gave the scientific backing towards an application to UNESCO. In April 2018 Beaujolais was recognised as a UNESCO Global Geopark – one of the first French wine regions to gain this status.

UNESCO Global Geoparks are areas of outstanding geological heritage, internationally recognised and managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. There 177 around the globe across 46 countries. In France, other wine regions with Geopark status include the Monts d’Ardèche (covering the IGP Ardèche), Luberon and Haute-Provence.

Additionally, the soil study motivated several of Beaujolais’ ACs to cooperate in applying for premier cru status for their most promising lieux-dits.

Grégoire Hoppenot, secretary of the Fleurie appellation, says ‘We are quite ready now. We just need to agree on the final list of premiers crus to present to the INAO, we will likely submit by March 2023.’

‘It’s a big investment for us,’ admits Hoppenot. ‘We started the work four years ago following the soil study and in the best-case scenario it would be approved in 10 years.’

The list of premiers crus they will propose represents 20%-30% of the Fleurie appellation, including some of the most recognised lieux-dits in Fleurie. ‘We are proposing to elevate [to premier cru level] the lieux-dits that are the most frequently declared [on labels], the most present in the press and in historical books, the most expensive, and the most interesting we tasted.’

It would be a major coup for the region to gain premier cru status, as it’s the only part of the Burgundy region that does not already have premier or grand cru level vineyards. Gaining premier cru will allow certain producers to charge more for their wines and continue to build their reputation for quality. The region has also been inspired by neighbouring Mâcon gaining premier cru vineyards in recent years.

However not all producers are on board. ‘There will be some producers who use a lieu-dit on their label, but the INAO may only approve part of the vineyards in that lieu-dit to be of premier cru level. If your vineyards are not included, then once that lieu-dit becomes premier cru you can not use it on the label, even if you’ve been doing so for decades,’ says Hoppenot.

For this very reason, Morgon has not made progress towards a premier cru application. The Côte du Py is a very large and famous lieu-dit that many producers use, but only a portion of it would likely gain premier cru status, and it is a name most producers are not willing to lose from their labels.

Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly are next in line to submit their applications to the INAO early next year. Juliénas and Moulin-à-Vent are not far behind as they compile the necessary documentation within their respective regions.

‘The premier cru will help consumers identify the best sites from our region, but even without it, our vignerons have become very proud and enthusiastic about the soils and quality of our wines,’ says Hoppenot.

What does applying for premier cru status involve?

Grégoire Hoppenot, secretary for AC Fleurie, reveals the process:

1. Declaration: We observed the harvest declaration over the past 10 years and counted the percentage of Fleurie’s growing area identified as lieux-dits.

2. Bibliography: We researched, through books written from 1747 to the present day, any historical mention of lieux-dits in the region.

3. Ratings: We identified the lieux-dits with the highest ratings in the French and British press.

4. Tastings: We tasted more than 120 wines from 32 different lieux-dits between January 2020 and June 2022.

5. Price: We compared the prices of wines labelled with a lieu-dit against wines labelled as generic Fleurie.

10 expressive Beaujolais wines to try:

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The first time I met Thomas and Mary Delany Bachelder was in 2018 at a tasting of Canadian wines at the Trafalgar Square embassy in London. In front of them on the table was a map of Ontario’s Niagara wine region with names and arrows handwritten all over it, pointing to single vineyards. ‘Discovering and channelling terroir is our raison d’être,’ they said.

Historically, terroir has not been the focus of Canadian wineries, but the Bachelders are one of a handful of producers that are attempting to do just that: unearthing and interpreting the region’s vineyards. My curiosity piqued, I decided to revisit Niagara, and the Bachelders, to find out more.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 12 Bachelder wines

How did it all begin?

Thomas Bachelder embarked on his wine journey as many of us have: tasting wines with friends. He turned his passion into a career, becoming a wine journalist in his hometown of Montréal in Québec, but eventually winemaking school beckoned.

In the early 1990s going to a Canadian winemaking school wasn’t an option but he could speak French, so Thomas, along with his new bride Mary Delany, moved to Burgundy. Burgundy’s influence on Thomas was immediate: ‘They (Burgundians) never spoke about grapes, just places.’

Over the ensuing decade, he honed his winemaking skills at Domaine de la Créa (Beaune), Domaine Marius Delarche (Pernand-Vergelesses) and Château Génot-Boulanger (Meursault). Thomas’ lifelong passion for terroir was born.

Meeting fellow winemaking student Luisa Ponzi (Ponzi Vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley) led to a summer in the US state and introduced Thomas and Mary to an alternative interpretation of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. That experience led to a move to Oregon in 1999 when Thomas became winemaker at Lemelson Winery.

‘Burgundy discovered terroir hundreds of years ago and we (winemakers) attempt to interpret it. In Oregon, I learned that terroir was there just waiting to be discovered.’

Coming home

In 2003, Thomas’ Canadian passport and experience in interpreting Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in both the New and Old Worlds made him an ideal choice for a new winemaking project in Ontario’s Niagara region: a joint venture between what was then Vincor Canada (now Arterra Wines) and the Boisset family of Burgundy.

The vision was terroir driven, modelled after Burgundy: only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay would be produced, with three levels of quality. Vines were planted in 2000 and Le Clos Jordanne was born. The first wines, from the 2005 vintage, were released to wide acclaim and announced to the wine world that Thomas Bachelder, winemaker, had come home.

Thomas eventually parted ways with Le Clos Jordanne in 2010. The company eventually had its doors shut in 2016 by then owners Constellation but was revived in 2019 by new owners Arterra Wines, who immediately hired Thomas back as chief winemaker.

In 2009, Thomas and Mary started Three Terroirs, devoted to making Chardonnay (and eventually Pinot Noir) in the three places they knew best: Oregon, Burgundy and Niagara. Operating as a micro-négociant in each country allowed them the flexibility to source grapes from different plots and interpret the terroirs in all three locations.

Within a few years, they discovered that people were most interested in the wines from Niagara so, in 2015, Bachelder Niagara became their sole focus.

Destination Niagara

The modern history of the wine industry in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula only dates to the mid-1970s. The region has spent much of the ensuing 40 years trying to convince the world that it could grow grapes and make quality wine, beyond just icewine.

Its success is evident. Today, the Niagara wine route has boutique wineries, tasting rooms and top restaurants. Niagara is now a wine destination.

Niagara possesses both continental and maritime climates, resulting in material differences in growing conditions depending on where the vineyards are located (continental for vineyards located in the slopes of Niagara escarpment – commonly called benches – and maritime for those vineyards closer to Lake Ontario

In addition, the region has multiple soils – limestone, clay, silt, gravel, sand/sandstone and often a combination. Altitudes range from 95m to 170m and the distance from Lake Ontario ranges between 3.2km to 13km. It is this interplay between grape, proximity to the lake, altitude and soils that Bachelder seeks to express.

Bachelder Niagara: the facts

Founded 2009

Owner Thomas Bachelder and Mary Delany Bachelder

Annual Production 5,000 cases

Key vineyards Niagara-on-the-Lake: Bator, Willms, Bai-Xu, Lowrey

Niagara Escarpment: Wismer Foxcroft, Wismer-Park, Wismer-Wingfield, Cuesta, Saunders, Hanck

Wines between 25 and 28. Key bottlings are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay from the Niagara-on-the-Lake VQAs of Four Mile Creek and St David’s Bench and the Niagara Escarpment VQAs of Twenty Mile Bench, Beamsville Bench and Lincoln Lakeshore

Associated wineries Les Clos Jordanne

Grapes and winemaking style

Initially Thomas and Mary focused on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two grapes they knew well via their ‘spiritual home’ of Burgundy. The winemaking style is the same for each wine. Thomas is focused on transparency: letting the vineyards ‘sing lightly and clearly’ to promote their sense of place.

Low intervention winemaking is his philosophy, which includes a light touch when it comes to use of barrels. Wines are aged for two years in a combination of barrel and bottle prior to release. ‘I just try to get out of the way,’ he says.

Bachelder makes seven single-vineyard wines for each grape: two from vineyards located near the historic lakeside area of Niagara, which has a maritime climate, and five from vineyards located in the bench area that is more elevated and continental. They also make a village-level blend from across the region.

Their newest project is all about Gamay, which is turning out to be one of Niagara’s shining stars. Thomas and Mary have been long-time admirers of Cru Beaujolais, so adding Gamay to their line-up was a natural progression.

Unlike the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, winemaking is different for Gamay. There are two expressions of Gamay for each vineyard, with the difference being the percentage of whole bunches used in the winemaking. Currently eight wines are produced from four single vineyards, as well as a village-level and more unusually, a blend between Pinot Noir and Gamay.

Visiting the vineyards

Thomas felt it was important that I explored the vineyards before I tasted the wines, so we visited eight distinct locations, providing the opportunity to appreciate the uniqueness of each. We then headed to what is affectionately known as the ‘Bat Cave’ (ageing cellar) to meet up with Mary and taste through the range.

With the same regional map from our first encounter years before visible in the background, we sat down and sampled the most recent releases: 2020 Gamays, 2019 Chardonnays and 2019 Pinot Noirs. As the wines were from the same vintage and grape, and had the same winemaking, differences had to be attributed primarily to terroir.

And there were differences. One Pinot Noir was lean and tart while another – sourced from a vineyard just 10 metres away – was rich and fruity. Some differences were more subtle, such as fruit profile and alcohol, but the thread that tied them all together was fruit purity and freshness.

This is a credit to the vineyards and the region but the overall elegance of the wines was a reflection of Thomas’s winemaking.

I asked him what was next – perhaps Cabernet Franc or Riesling, two of Niagara’s other premier grapes. He replied: ‘No we will stick with these grapes as we’ve only just begun. There is still so much to do and discover.’

Modest visionaries

Towards the conclusion of the tasting, Thomas looked at me and said: ‘Do you know what you haven’t heard today? You haven’t heard me say Bachelder.

‘This is not about me, it’s about the vineyards and their founders – the Lowrey and Wismer families among others. As well as pioneers like Karl Kaiser who, 40 years ago, asked these vineyard owners to take a risk and plant these grapes.’

As I left, my lasting impression was that this modest couple, together with a few other unheralded Niagara winemakers, are doing what was done in Burgundy hundreds of years ago: methodically and successfully mapping Niagara Peninsula terroirs ‘one vineyard at a time’.

Bachelder: tasting notes and scores for 12 wines

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Domaine Ponsot: 150th anniversary vertical tasting

Located in the northern end of Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent has a reputation for being one of the best of the 10 Beaujolais Crus but also one that is structured, powerful and age worthy.

An intriguing vertical tasting (2010-2019) from the revitalised Château du Moulin-à-Vent confirmed the latter characteristic, while reaffirming that the age-old view of the appellation as a sturdy, traditional (and sometimes rustic) wine is in need of revision.

With investment in both vineyard and wineries, together with the arrival of a new generation of young winemakers, Moulin-à-Vent is emerging as a more elegant and refined example of the Gamay grape. Still capable of long-ageing, many wines are now perfumed, smooth on the palate and very pleasurable while young. And all of this is combined with price-points which are extremely attractive in the context of good Pinot Noir from Burgundy.

Scroll down to see scores and notes for the 2010-2019 vertical, plus four other Château du Moulin-à-Vent wines, including the 1976

The Moulin-à-Vent appellation comprises around 620 hectares, with around 300 producers and annual production of around 1.5 million bottles. Distinctly different from other well-known Beaujolais Crus such as Morgon and Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent’s character is heavily influenced by the presence of decomposed, pink granitic soils which add to the wines fragrance when young but allow it to age for 10+ years when it develops many characters akin to Pinot Noir. The presence of manganese and iron oxides in certain locations are additional factors contributing to the appellation’s complex geology, with 69 lieux-dits named.

Old vines

The AP was one of France’s earliest (established in 1936), a year which coincided with the Château des Thorins becoming known as Château du Moulin-à-Vent. Located in in the hameau of Les Thorins, the Château lies between Romanèche-Thorins and Chénas, the latter village being located further up the slope. Old Gamay Noir vines are planted in high-density, with the famous Moulin (windmill) located about halfway up the hill where, not surprisingly, it is the windiest.

The Parinet family took over the domaine in 2009 and have re-energised this ancient domaine with a focus on its 23 lieux-dits. Massal selections, improving the soil, pruning techniques and leaf canopy management are all techniques which have been implemented, together with a dramatic switch to sustainable viticulture.

The domaine is currently working towards full organic certification with the 2013 the first vintage with 100% organic viticulture. Winemaking has also been adjusted with the amount of wood reduced with the 2016 vintage, at the same time as extended ageing with long periods in stainless steel following blending.

Modern techniques

Edouard Parinet now runs the domaine, with Brice Laffond as winemaker. Their philosophy is to modernise the style of Moulin-à-Vent whilst emphasising the distinct characteristics of the lieux-dits and through single-vineyard bottlings.

Winemaking is adapted to the specific requirements of each vintage with varying use of de-stemming, whole-bunch, length of maceration and size/type of maturation vessel.

The tasting certainly demonstrated a distinct shift in style with the change in oak management. Whereas the older vintages (although with undoubted ageing potential) demonstrated a firmer tannic structure, the more recent vintages were much more expressive, floral, delicate and refined. However, there is every reason to suspect that these wines will deliver the same ageing capacity as the more ‘traditional’ style.

The potential for top Moulin-à-Vent to age was demonstrated with the pouring of the domaine’s 1976 at lunch. I have been lucky enough to taste quite a few fine Bordeaux, Burgundy and Napa Valley wines from that decade but this seemed to be more vibrant, vivid in colour, and more full of life than any other I can remember. A great testament to what can happen with careful cellaring, as well as the potential for this top Beaujolais Cru to be considered alongside the finest Pinot Noir wines from a little further to the north.

Château du Moulin-à-Vent vertical 2010-2019

Wines are listed in ascending vintage order

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The pattern for Loire reds in 2021 is similar to the whites. Initially there were some cold periods over the first part of winter, followed by rising temperatures in mid-February that continued into March, causing early bud-break.

Once again producers were faced with a series of spring frosts starting in late March, continuing into the first part of April. This series of frosts accumulated in severe crop loss similar to that of the infamous 1991 frost, which was a result of just one harsh night. Exceptionally, even Sancerre, which often escapes frost, was badly hit in 2021.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for 31 top Loire red wines from 2020 and 2021

A fine autumn

Just as in 1991, the weather was cold after the frosts so the vines were slow to recover, reducing the number of second-generation bunches. The flowering was patchy and a wet summer provoked mildew.

Xavier Frissant, a winemaker in Touraine-Amboise, said: ‘In 2021 we made just 15hl/ha due to the frosts and poor flowering, especially for the Côt [Malbec], and mildew then caused further considerable damage.’

Fortunately, as so often happens in the Loire, a fine September and October with a drying wind from the east saved the vintage, with producers often surprised by the quality. Picking for the early red varieties started around 20 September, while harvesting for the Cabernet Franc started around the beginning of October and continued well into the month as the good weather allowed producers to wait for optimum maturity.

See Jim Budd’s Loire 2021 white wine report here

Loire red wine 2021: top producers

• Baudry-Dutour
• Clos Roussely
• Domaine de la Bonnelière
• Domaine de la Noblaie
• Lionel Gosseaume – Domaine de Pierre

At the time of tasting, many wines were yet to be bottled and released.

What to look out for in Loire 2021 reds

Although it is still relatively early days, my impression is that Gamay and Cabernet Franc have been more successful than Pinot Noir, where a very careful selection of grapes was essential.

This was confirmed by Florent Pinard, of the Vincent Pinard domaine in Sancerre: ‘For both our whites and reds we had to select the grapes we used very carefully. However, quality-wise we are fairly happy with the result, similar in style to 2014.’

In Chinon, Jean-Martin Dutour of Baudry-Dutour said: ‘Despite the small crop we are very happy with the reds; due to the fine September our Cabernet Franc reached 12.5% alcohol and was phenolically ripe.’

Loire red wine 2021: value picks

• Domaine de la Bonnelière, Tradition, Saumur-Champigny 2021
• Lionel Gosseaume, Domaine de Pierre Les Marcottes Gamay, Touraine 2021
• Domaine des Rochelles, L’Ardoise, Anjou Rouge 2021
• Domaine des Rochelles, Malbec, Val de Loire 2021

The small crop has forced some producers, such as Jean-Marie Bourgeois of Famille Bourgeois, to make difficult choices: ‘We didn’t make any red in 2021, choosing to make rosé instead.’ On the other hand, some, like Domaine Fouassier in Sancerre, chose not to make rosé in 2021. François Crochet made just one cuvée of his red Sancerre.

In a difficult vintage like 2021, the good producers have benefitted from the way they work in the vineyards and from making the right decisions during the fermentation and maturation processes. As with the whites, there is a considerable range of quality, with some wines lacking ripe fruit and displaying green tannins.

Of the producers who have made attractive reds, these are less powerful with lower alcohol levels than recent vintages, with more noticeable acidity – more like the traditional profile of Loire reds.

With their strong acid line, these well made 2021 reds, like the whites, should age well – provided they have enough fruit character to balance the acidity. It was very important to pick when the tannins were ripe, to treat them gently during fermentation, and not to leave them too long on the skins.

Know your Loire red vintages

2017: Once again spring frosts reduced the crop but less severe than 2016. Fourth successive good quality red vintage with balance and finesse. 5/5

2018: A rare frost-free very hot vintage with often high levels of alcohol up to 15%. More successful than whites with some very good reds, especially those from fruit picked before they became over-ripe. These should age very well. 5/5

2019: Another frost-affected but high quality vintage 5/5

2020: Hot but good vintage with often concentrated, ripe whites some with very high alcohols up to 15%. However, there is more freshness and balance than 2018. Some top cuvées yet to be released. 5/5.

2021: Most difficult vintage since 2013 with a small crop due to spring frosts, mildew and poor flowering for some varieties. Overall quality better than feared – return to a fresher more traditional Loire style. Some attractive reds but also there are some thin and mean examples. 3/5

Jim Budd’s top Loire reds from 2020 and 2021:

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Geneva doesn’t always get the credit it deserves. It’s often used as a first port-of-call on a ski holiday, but with a swan-dotted, marbled blue-green lake – one of the cleanest in Europe; epic views of the Jura mountains and Mont-Blanc; and a quaint cobblestoned old town, this charmingly international city of Michelin stars and hyper-local wine should be more than just a quick pitstop.

Like its neighbours, Switzerland produces great wine. But unlike its neighbours, that wine is rarely exported, making the country – and each of its cantons – exciting for oenophiles and approachable for novices. ‘Only around 2% of Swiss wines ever leave Switzerland,’ says Mikaël Grou, chief sommelier at Beau-Rivage Genève, a historic hotel with one of the largest wine cellars in Geneva, dating back to 1865. ‘It’s even rarer to find the wines of Geneva exported outside the canton because in the other cantons they prefer to drink their local wines.’

Out of the country’s six wine-growing regions, the canton of Geneva is the third largest and is surprisingly diverse.

‘The most produced grapes in Geneva are Chasselas for white and Gamay for red. Historically, those are the easy-drinking wines,’ says Grou.

While Gamay and Chasselas remain the most popular with the locals, especially the older population, ‘international’ varieties like Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Merlot are also now commonly grown in Geneva, as are the ‘newer’ Swiss varieties.

‘In the 1970s, the Swiss started thinking about creating grapes resistant to disease, and they created Gamaret and Garanoir,’ says Grou, both crosses of Gamay and Reichensteiner but with their own distinctive characteristics.

The Swiss tend to drink their wine young (Grou attributes this to historical low-quality production, which changed in the 2000s when entry-level competition from countries like Italy and Spain forced improvements), so it’s not common to find bottles in shops or on menus more than a few years old.

‘There is no cheap Swiss wine, but it’s rare to find hugely expensive Swiss wine,’ says Grou, citing a range of roughly £13 to £37 per bottle. Interestingly, there is no major mark-ups in restaurants because producers essentially keep the price the same for everyone.

‘You will more or less pay the same as in a restaurant, which is something very particular for Switzerland. Maximum, there will be a 20 per cent difference,’ says Grou.

Where To Try Genevan Wine:

Le Caveau de Bacchus

Le Caveau De Bacchus has three wine boutiques in Switzerland; however, its Genevan location is the most extensive with a separate spirits shop; a chic wine bar with over 40 wines by the glass; and labyrinthine, stone cellar packed with Swiss, French, Italian and Spanish finds. Le Caveau de Bacchus’ sommelier consultant Emmanuel Depreux recommends picking up a bottle of the slightly smoky, fruit-forward Garanoir Cuvée Albertine from the nearby women-led Domaine de la Vigne Blanche.

Le Blanc Valet

There’s no shortage of wine bars in Geneva. New to the scene is Le Blanc Valet, a warm and lively pick for Swiss and French wines. There are about ten wines available by the glass, but they change every two weeks, so it’s best to ask for recommendations. While you’re working your way through the multipage wine list, dig into hardy sharing plates of duck confit parmentier and bubbly tartiflette, and end the night with an aromatic prune eau de vie from Distillerie Morard Le Bry in the hills above Montreux.

Les Perrières Cave & Domaine

As one of Switzerland’s largest estates with over 100 hectares, the award-winning Les Perrières has been in the Rochaix family for eight generations. ‘We say we produce vin de cepage, wines that are true to the grape,’ says Frédéric Rochaix of the 17 wines on offer at the postcard-perfect laurel- and wisteria-fringed estate in the village of Peissy. Les Millerands Chasselas de Peissy is a true-to-character, approachable Chasselas with notes of pear and white flowers (pair this with gruyère and vacherin, the two cheeses commonly found in fondue in Geneva), but for something special try the Coteau de Peissy 1er Cru, an interesting blend of Viognier and Pinot Blanc. ‘No French winery would make this blend,’ says Rochaix.

Domaine De La Planta

Spearheaded by twin brothers Frédéric and Jean-David Gaillard, Domaine De La Planta is a midsize winery with 12 hectares and 29 wines. Grab a bottle of their oak-aged Lili Garanoir (‘a favourite of Michelin-starred restaurants,’ according to Jean-David), and go for a picnic among the vines.

Beau-Rivage & Le Chat-Botté

With sensational lake views and an elegant, old-world aesthetic, the antique-filled Beau-Rivage is not only one of the oldest and most luxurious hotels in Geneva, it is also the place to stay for wine-lovers thanks to its dizzyingly impressive wine list and candle-lit wine cellar, the largest of any hotel. It is linked to their Michelin-starred restaurant Le Chat-Botté by the impressive Chef Dominique Gauthier, a master of regional products like pike—pulled right from the lake—and perfumed honey from his own hives. Start the night with a cellar tasting with Grou before heading upstairs for dinner. Grou’s recommendation: pair Gauthier’s rich and juicy pork belly with a Gamaret from Domaine des Balisiers for ‘a bit of vivacity and a bit of tannins.’ The hotel also hosts special wine dinners throughout the year featuring different winemakers and estates from around Switzerland and the world.

Baghera Wines

Launched by two Christie’s alums, the prestigious Baghera Wines is best known as a fine wine auction house with over £81 million in sales since its inception in 2015. Recently, the outfit expanded to include an exclusive boutique and an even-more-exclusive private members club (with just 20 members), housed within Beau-Rivage. While you can’t get into the club without an invite, swing by the bijou boutique for a peek at the rare wines, including some hard-to-find aged Swiss bottles like a 2005 Comtesse Eldegarde Cabernet Franc.

The Details:

Geneva Airport is only 20 minutes from the city centre. There are over 160 weekly flights from the UK via Swiss Air, with fares starting at £54. Semi-private aviation company Aero has also recently started to fly to Geneva from London Farnborough. Travellers can book seats on an ultra-luxe bespoke 16-seat Aero aircraft with rates starting at £1,200.

The famous Swiss efficiency and precision applies to the Swiss Travel System: Pick up a complimentary Geneva Transport Card at your hotel, which grants free city transport including rides on the Mouettes Genevoises, the canary-yellow ferry boats. For more information on Switzerland and Geneva visit the national and local tourism sites.

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See the full Beaujolais 2018 cru vintage report

Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

Morgon | Moulin-à-Vent | Fleurie | Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly

Saint-Amour, Régnié, Juliénas and Chénas 2018

There is plenty to celebrate from the 2018 vintage in Beaujolais with many of the region’s crus producing outstanding wines after a hot, dry growing season.

Andy Howard MW looks at what to expect from the 2018 wines coming from Saint-Amour, Régnié, Juliénas and Chénas, and highlights some producers to look out for.

Chénas

Size: 237ha

A very small cru which is rarely seen, Chénas is named after the forests of oak which used to dominate the land here.

Quite full-bodied, earthy wines with more tannins evident, this is balanced by pronounced floral notes of rose and iris.

Domaine Piron-Lameloise produce a wine from quartz-rich soils which is always worth seeking out.

Juliénas

Size: 568ha

Named after Julius Caesar, Juliénas is the oldest of the Beaujolais cru.

There is much less granite here – the soils are orientated towards clay, with schist and diorite playing an important role.

The wines are sturdy and ageworthy with dark cherry and cassis fruit, and spicy, peppery notes.

Régnié

Size: 400ha

Beaujolais’ newest cru (1988), with pink-granite, mineral rich soils.

Perhaps not the most complex AOP but approachable and generally earlier-drinking.

Aromatic with peach, cherry and raspberry notes and some spicy flavours.

Saint-Amour

Size: 320ha

The most northerly of the crus, St-Amour has a varied mix of soils ranging from granite, clay, schist and limestone (shared with the Côte Chalonnaise just to the north).

A lighter cru with forward, dark berry fruit flavours and appealing floral qualities (violet, peony, lavender).

The tasting revealed quite a variety of styles – often related to the soil type.

Top producers include:

• Domaine Piron-Lameloise (Chénas)
• Domaine du Clos du Fief (Juliénas)
• Guy Breton (Régnié)
• Domaine Rochette (Régnié)
• Domaine de la Pirolette (Saint-Amour)
• Domaine des Billards (Saint-Amour)

See Andy Howard MW’s top St-Amour, Régnié, Juliénas and Chénas 2018 wines

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See the full Beaujolais 2018 cru vintage report

Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

Morgon | Moulin-à-Vent | Fleurie | Saint Amour, Regnie, Julienas and Chenas

Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly 2018

Looking at the 2018 vintage in Beaujolais there is plenty to celebrate with many of the region’s crus producing outstanding wines after a hot, dry growing season.

With 1,300 hectares under vine Brouilly is the largest Beaujolais cru and its vineyards skirt around Mont Brouilly in the south of the region.

Brouilly comprises six separate communes which in total account for 20% of the Beaujolais cru area.

Soils are varied and include pink granite, limestone-marl and clay, and the wines lean towards a muscular and full-bodied style.

Despite being the largest cru it hits the high spots on fewer occasions than many other AOPs.

The most southerly of the cru, Brouilly has a wide range of producers and soil types.

Wines range from simpler, juicy, easy to drink styles to a few vielles-vignes bottlings which are moving towards fine-wine territory. At the top level there is undoubtedly ageing potential and purity of fruit allied to freshness and terroir influence. Generally, earlier-drinking and approachable.’

Known for producing some of the region’s finest and most complex wines Côte de Brouilly is situated on the volcanic slopes of Mt. Brouilly above the Broilly appellation.

On the slopes of Mt. Brouilly, there are more fine wines here than neighbouring Brouilly. Blue stones (schist and volcanic diorite) impart a distinct flavour with additional complexity.

Many wines have a silky mouthfeel but remain easy going and pleasurable. With some concentrated examples, this is a cru to watch.

Top producers include:

• Chateau de La Chaize (Brouilly)
• George Descombes (Brouilly)
• Chateau Thivin (Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly)
• Alex Foillard (Côte de Brouilly)
• Pierre Cotton (Côte de Brouilly)

See Andy Howard MW’s top Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly 2018 wines

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See the full Beaujolais 2018 cru vintage report

Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

Moulin-à-Vent | Morgan | Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly | St-Amour, Régnié, Juliénas and Chénas

Fleurie 2018

Looking at the 2018 vintage in Beaujolais there is plenty to celebrate with many of the region’s Crus producing outstanding wines after a hot, dry growing season.

Fleurie along with and Brouilly offered softer, fragrant and appealing wines in 2018, albeit with more variability.

Fleurie in the north of the Beaujolais region has 822 hectares of vines, most of which – some 90% – are planted on pink granite soils.

Geographically it boasts steep hillsides and vineyards at elevation, and typically produces elegant wines with punchy fruit and floral aromas and flavours.

The most well-known Beaujolais cru, Fleurie is approachable and often characterised by floral, perfumed notes. On the palate Fleurie is often soft, a bit lighter in style, with juicy, dark fruit character and full of immediate pleasure. Where pink-granite dominates the wines are more floral, whilst those on richer clay soils carry more depth and weight. Although not the most ageworthy Cru, some serious wines are now being produced.’

Top producers include:

• Clos de Roilette
• Julian Sunier
• Domaine des Marrans

See Andy Howard MW’s top Fleurie 2018 wines

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See the full Beaujolais 2018 cru vintage report

Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

Morgon| Fleurie | Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly | Saint Amour, Regnie, Julienas and Chenas

Moulin-à-Vent 2018

Looking at the 2018 vintage in Beaujolais there is plenty to celebrate with many of the region’s crus producing outstanding wines after a hot, dry growing season.

Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent confirmed their claim as the leading crus in terms of terroir character and age-worthiness.

Many of the wines from Moulin-à-Vent demonstrated a much ‘glossier’ and supple character with less of the grippy, tannic and rustic edges seen in earlier years.

Moulin-à-Vent – named after the local windmill – is situated in the north of the Beaujolais region and one of the most famous crus. Vineyards span both the Rhône and Saône-et-Loire departments covering 611ha with the best sites positioned on the south and southeast-facing slopes of the Beaujolais hillsides at elevations of 200-300m.

Considered the longest-living, sturdiest and most tannic of the cru, Moulin-à-Vent is never going to tannic in the same way as red Bordeaux or Chianti. With vineyards on crumbly pink granite soils and varied seams of manganese and quartz, Moulin-à-Vent can be laden with violet and dark-cherry notes when youthful, gaining iris and spice notes as it ages, before developing gamey, musky notes with longer maturation.

Top producers include:

• Chateau des Jacques
• Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent
• Thibault Liger-Belair
• Domaine Labruyère

See Andy Howard MW’s top Moulin-à-Vent 2018 wines

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See the full Beaujolais 2018 cru vintage report

Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

Moulin-à-Vent | Fleurie | Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly | St-Amour, Régnié, Juliénas and Chénas

Morgon 2018

Looking at the 2018 vintage in Beaujolais there is plenty to celebrate with many of the region’s crus producing outstanding wines after a hot, dry growing season.

Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent confirmed their claim as the leading crus in terms of terroir character and age-worthiness.

Situated in the heart of the crus Morgon boasts 1,111 ha of vines and is the second largest cru after Brouilly. Given its size there is variation in styles of wine from the cru but on the whole Morgon produces some of the most powerful and age-worthy Beaujolais cru wines with many needing time (2-3 years) to develop after bottling.

Seen as the source for many of the finest expressions of cru Beaujolais, Morgon is heavily influenced by the presence of granite, producing many terroir-influenced wines.

The soils are also rich in iron-oxide with volcanic rock and manganese. Morgon has been the home for some of the leading cru Beaujolais producers favouring minimal-intervention and wines with more of a ‘natural’ philosophy.

These are wines that will benefit from ageing.

Top producers include:

• Jean Foillard
• Marcel Lapierre
• Thevenet
• Breton
• Chamonard
• Jean-Marc Burgaud

See Andy Howard MW’s top Morgon 2018 wines

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Individual cru analysis and top-scoring wines for:

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The 2018 vintage continues a very fine run for the under-rated crus of Beaujolais.

With a hot, dry, growing season, the Gamay grape has thrived on distinctive granitic soils to create highly appealing, fruit-forward wines which are fine exponents of the concept of terroir. Add the fact that many examples deliver quality and value (the latter particularly in comparison with the Côte d’Or), this makes Beaujolais a region deserving attention. Of 130 wines tasted, more than 50% were awarded 90 points or more.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for Andy Howard MW’s top-scoring Beaujolais 2018 cru wines

Location

Beaujolais runs roughly north-south from close to Mâcon to Villefranche-sur-Saône, divided (roughly) into two halves.

The northern sector is the home to the Beaujolais crus, with convex hills of volcanic granite and metamorphic schist, weathered to give thin, generally acidic soils. Physically close to neighbouring Mâconnais, the northern Beaujolais could hardly be more different.

In Burgundy, limestone and clay dominate on largely east-facing sedimentary slopes, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay king and queen.

Within the Beaujolais crus, the vigorous Gamay grape is checked by poor soils, leading to wines balancing early-drinking exuberance with pronounced terroir character and ageing potential.

Many estates are blessed with old-vines – 40, 50 or even 80 years old. Allied to this is a new-wave of younger vignerons, as well as some cult winemakers who have been at the forefront of driving the minimal-intervention, ‘natural’ wine movement.

When all of these factors come together with an excellent growing season – as in 2018 – then the results should be very positive.

Crus

The tasting included wines from across all 10 of the crus.

Cyril Chirouze, winemaker at Château des Jacques, Louis Jadot’s Moulin-à-Vent domaine, is very positive about the vintage: ‘2018 is one of the best of the past 30 years.’

Edouard Parinet, owner of Château du Moulin-à-Vent, agrees: ‘2018 is a rich and powerful vintage that can be compared to the glorious 2015.’ Parinet notes the ‘joviality and immediacy’ of 2018, whereas ‘2015 was more austere and closed in its youth’.

The view among winemakers and merchants, backed up by the wines tasted here, is that 2018 is a vintage delivering high quality and approachability, together with good volumes.

See all 110 Beaujolais 2018 cru wines tasted

2018 vintage conditions

Although 2018 was shaped by extremely hot weather in July and August, a key reason for the success of the vintage lies in the preceding winter – one of the wettest for 60 years.

Water reserves were replenished, enabling vines to cope during the extreme summer heat. After a cold February and early March, budbreak occurred in mid April (much later than 2017) with flowering in mid May.

Nadine Gublin, winemaker at Domaine Labruyère in Moulin-à-Vent, noted the influence of a second period of substantial rainfall – between mid-May and mid-June 70% more rain fell than normal. After the dramatic hail losses in 2016 and 2017, growers were fearful about the threat of mildew, however a new moon on 13 June ushered in a very dry, sunny period which saved the crop.

Virtually no rain fell before harvest and, although the heatwave in July and August was extreme (August was one of the three hottest since 1959), fears of over-ripeness and excessive alcohol levels did not materialise.

Instead, the wines are fresher, with slightly higher acidity and lower alcohol than their counterparts from the renowned 2015 vintage.

They are approachable with vibrant dark fruit, appealing floral perfume and a succulence making many immediately appealing.

Andy Howard MW also tasted 20 Beaujolais cru wines from older vintages:

14 from 2017 | 3 from 2016 | 3 from 2015 | 1 from 2014 

After the hail-reduced yields in 2016 and 2017 (some producers in Chiroubles, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie and Morgon lost more than 80% of their crop), 2018 was a year where volumes were above the average.

Estates and co-operatives have good stocks, which should allow consumers to benefit from attractive, well-priced wines for some time to come.

Cru Beaujolais: vintage guide

2018 Abundant crop of flamboyant, ripe, dark fruit Beaujolais which retain freshness, moderate alcohol and good acidity. A fine vintage where the best wines will age very well.

2017 Fleshy wines with immediate appeal. Heavily affected by hail in July – some producers in Morgon lost 80%. Very dry conditions in the summer. Approachable but not for long-keeping.

2016 Very challenging vintage with frost and several hail storms drastically reducing yields. Fresh and pleasurable wines with much less density than 2015 but do allow terroir character to shine.

2015 Good ripeness of fruit from a dry, hot growing season. Powerful, structured wines with higher alcohol. Seen by some as atypical of Beaujolais.

2014 As in the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais, a fresher vintage which often suits the character of Beaujolais. Appealing, crisp wines but certainly no blockbuster.

Particular cru profiles

The crus largely delivered as expected with lighter, fragrant wines from St-Amour and Régnié, with elegant bottles from the higher vineyards of Chiroubles.

Juliénas and Chénas were structured and weighty, with Fleurie and Brouilly – substantial crus in terms of size – giving softer, fragrant and appealing wines, albeit with more variability.

Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent confirmed their claim as the leading crus in terms of terroir character and age-worthiness, with many of the wines from Moulin-à-Vent demonstrating a much glossier and supple character with less of the grippy, tannic and rustic edges seen in earlier years. Côte de Brouilly provided some classy examples and, along with Chiroubles, is a cru to watch.

Vinification-wise, a number of winemakers are changing their approach in the use of whole-bunch, as opposed to destemmed, grapes.

Although many still favour traditional semi-carbonic maceration, some leading estates have moved to a higher proportion of destemmed bunches (in some cases 100%). There is also a trend towards larger wooden maturation vessels and a reduction in the proportion of new wood. One slight concern is that some wines have become a little too polished and Burgundian in approach. While a reduction in rusticity is welcome, Beaujolais needs to combine this with its own vibrant, unique style.

There were also too many heavyweight bottles on show (some more than 1.5kg) which doesn’t sit comfortably with many producers’ drive towards sustainable practices and minimal intervention.

Ageing

2018 is undoubtedly a vintage to enjoy.

With wines attractively priced and available, the 2018 Beaujolais crus can be recommended.

The best wines will age well for five to 10 years, with the potential to develop into some wonderful examples of Gamay from this highly distinctive region.

Few grape varieties manage to deliver early appeal and future ageing potential in the same way as Gamay, so now is a great time to go hunting.

See Andy Howard MW’s top-scoring Beaujolais 2018 cru wines

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It’s no longer a secret that this vibrant region has much more to offer than the light-bodied party juice of Beaujolais Nouveau. Especially when it comes to cru Beaujolais: many wines can stand up to red Burgundies of the same price.

Scroll down for 20 top Cru Beaujolais tasting notes and scores

So if you’re looking for complexity as well as value, wines from the Beaujolais crus could be what you’re looking for this Christmas.

There are 10 Beaujolais crus – many of which are familiar names on bottles. From north to south, they are: St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly.

These crus are at the top of the three-tier Beaujolais quality pyramid. The middle tier is for wines labelled as Beaujolais Villages, which cover 39 villages outside the crus. The lower tier is for wines labelled simply as Beaujolais.

Dynamic young growers

The UK is one of the top export markets for Beaujolais – and looks to still be growing. In April 2020, Decanter reported that exports to the UK grew by 22% in 2019.

This means British wine lovers are now spoiled for choice, with many Beaujolais crus now widely available in shops or on wine lists.

Young, dynamic growers and winemakers are at the forefront of this growth. Julien Sunier, a newcomer to the Beaujolais region in 2003, says this new generation are putting their energy into organics, respecting the environment and vinifying their own wines, as opposed to selling in bulk.

Coming from around the world, Sunier and many young producers like him, are buying up forgotten vineyards, bringing a focus on sustainability, respect for terroir and desire to share their passion and knowledge.

But Claire Chasselay of Domaine Chasselay stressed that the passing down of vineyards and knowledge from generation to generation is still important in this family-driven region.

Wines of character and charm

Although red wines from the Gamay grape make up more than 95% of production, Gamay rosé wines are also made. And there are also 700 producers of white Beaujolais, said Cécile Bossan-Redon, managing director at Inter Beaujolais.

But it is the 10 crus which are the stars of the region. Their red wines account for just 25% of the total Beaujolais production at around 47 million bottles a year, but – when at their best and most ageworthy – can give red Burgundies a run for their money.

The spirit of sharing and bonhomie is the essence of Beaujolais, and many wines exude this character and charm. So if you want to translate this cheer to your table this Christmas, reds from one of the 10 Beaujolais crus will not disappoint.

If you are looking for something structured but still fresh to cut through Christmas duck, goose or turkey, try a Moulin-à-Vent. Or, for a pretty, elegant wine top go with your nut roast, try a Fleurie.

From lighter-bodied Brouilly to more deep, rich Morgon, there is a Beaujolias cru for you.

See 20 top Cru Beaujolais tasting notes and scores

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Situated in the north of the Beaujolais region, Moulin-à-Vent is one of the most famous crus and named after the local windmill – the literal translation of the name.

It is a historic appellation with a vine-growing history dating back hundreds of years. It was officially granted appellation status in 1936 – one of the first in the country.

Scroll down for the top 22 Moulin-à-Vent 2018 wines

Wines are made solely with Gamay Noir grapes, an ancient Burgundian variety and natural offspring of Pinot Noir and the obscure white variety Goulais Blanc.

Gamay tends to be bluer in colour than other reds, with dominant flavours of freshly picked red fruits and relatively high acidity however they are also extremely tannic and concentrated with these traditional Beaujolais wines a wide departure from the light and simple styles of Beaujolais Nouveau.

In their youth, these wines can exhibit plush textures with floral aromas and crunchy fruit which, over time, develop spicy, earth-driven, mushroom and truffle characteristics but can hold a juiciness on the palate for decades.

Vineyards span both the Rhône and Saône-et-Loire departments covering 600ha with the best sites positioned on the south and southeast-facing slopes of the Beaujolais hillsides at elevations of 200-300m. However, a trio of factors are responsible for shaping the natural style of the wines; the presence of silica in the soil, depth of the soil and exposure to the wind.

See all 72 Moulin-à-Vent wines from the tasting

Moulin-à-Vent Terroir

Distinctive pink granite soils are the main feature of the Moulin-à-Vent terroir. These are rich in iron oxide, copper and manganese minerals and are said to directly benefit the longevity of the wines.

However, with 69 lieu-dits, this appellation has a multitude of different micro-terroirs that winemakers are keen to show – some comprising sand and granite, some alluvial-granite soils and others with larger percentages of clay. A striking comparison to a much larger cru, for instance, Morgon with double the size under vine at 1,200ha and less than 20 delineated lieu-dits.

Winemaking techniques tend to eschew the use of carbonic maceration, primarily to show this soil diversity and favour slow and long vinifications of between 18-22 days, with an average of one-third whole bunch, two-thirds de-stemmed followed by one-third aged in barrel and two-thirds in stainless steel.

2018 Vintage

With 2018, Moulin-à-Vent has experienced four great vintages in a row and while they maybe a little less colour and concentration than in 2017, the quality is extremely high with quantity to match – an extremely important element considering yields can vary from a 30ha plot producing 40,000 bottles in 2012 to 130,000 bottles in 2018.

A wet, cool spring and early summer gave way to a long period of hot and dry weather – heatwave spikes in July in August – with no rain falling on most of the region until after the harvest. Fortunately, vines had water reserves from April and May giving the 2018s slightly more freshness and higher acidity than the preceding years. Growers reported the start of picking around 28th August and harvested healthy crops by the end of the first week of September.

The 2018s in this tasting showcase a variety of characteristics from plush, supple and crunchy fruit to fragrant, floral and soft flavours but all with a signature acidity that makes them so juicy and appealing.

Champ de Cour, in particular, stood out. A sand and granite area with shallow soils that provides a warmer environment producing smaller, concentrated grapes with elegance and charm.

As these wines can age well, easily for 30 years or more, some are not as approachable as others and need more time to settle and integrate – a suggestion of 5-8 years before opening.

However, many are offering delightful freshness and vibrancy and would make excellent drinking companions to roast meats or rich cheese dishes.

Many will require seeking out direct from the estates but they are definitely worth it.

See the top 22 Moulin-à-Vent wines

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The French term ‘jolie-laide’ literally translates as ‘pretty-ugly’; used to describe someone who is attractive, with an imperfect charm and fascination, though not conventionally beautiful in a purely aesthetic sense. The ethos it brings to mind perfectly summarises the wines Scott Schultz produces.

Launched in 2010 with a 100-case production of a single wine – an avant-garde Trousseau Gris – Schulz’s Jolie-Laide label has grown to an average of 4,500 cases across 10 wines, and has become a key producer in a new generation of California wineries.

Jolie-Laide, alongside other North Coast producers such as Arnot-Roberts, Pax, Peay, Matthiasson and Massican, prioritises reasonable alcohol levels, less overt new-oak usage and real deft and precision in each wine.

Schultz comes from a restaurant background, a journey that began in Chicago. While working as a busboy at Spago’s now-extinct midwest premises, he sat in on a wine class given by then wine director Ken Fredrickson. Discussions of tasting notes describing ‘wet river rocks and stones’ reframed what Schultz understood of wine, planting the seed that would later grow into his profession.

He left Chicago in 2004 and joined the Thomas Keller Group at Las Vegas’ Bouchon in 2005. After taking time off for a European road trip, he transferred to Bouchon in Yountville, Napa Valley, as beverage director. Now in one of the world’s most wine-centric places, he found himself exposed to all aspects of the industry.

Changing careers

In the restaurant world, ‘staging’, or working as an unpaid intern, is common – especially among high-end establishments. Schultz took this concept and applied it to the wine world. In 2007, he began an internship at Realm Cellars in the Stag’s Leap District, and was hired full-time in 2008.

He continued working at Realm through the 2009 vintage, but then needed a change of scene. After scouting out a few prospects, he landed with Pax Mahle at Wind Gap Cellars in Sebastopol, who has served as a mentor for a growing number of up-and-coming winemakers in Sonoma and the greater North Coast area.

While at Bouchon, Schultz fell in love with Mahle’s Trousseau Gris from Fanucchi Wood Road in the Russian River Valley. Historically, the fruit from this 4ha vineyard, planted in the early 1980s, was blended into large-production California Chardonnays, but has thankfully found an identity of its own.

It was Mahle’s wine – and him letting Schultz in on a portion of that same Fanucchi Wood Road fruit – that sparked the inspiration for Jolie-Laide.

A motorcycle accident that rendered him immobile for months interrupted Schultz’s initial foray into making his own wine. During and after his recovery, Schultz dipped into the restaurant scene again as interim wine director at Napa Valley’s Redd.

He returned to Wind Gap in 2012, eventually becoming Mahle’s assistant winemaker, building Jolie-Laide on the side until he could no longer do both jobs.

Esoteric lineup

Schultz took a different approach with Trousseau Gris than that of his mentor. His goal was to strike a balance between an orange wine and a simple rosé.

‘The grapes technically don’t ferment on the skins,’ says Schultz. ‘It’s just sugar and water. We step on it and cold soak it so there’s no heat or alcohol – nothing soluble extract the tannins. The colour ends up being a happy accident. The hope is always that these wines are spry, light on their feet and aromatic, but are just a little more round, visceral, textural and have more mouthfeel.’

This off-the-wall, funky style of white was indicative of the stylistic shift that occurred in California a decade ago, and continues to attract fans both across the US and around the world.

Over the coming years, Schultz steadily expanded the scope of Jolie-Laide into a unique lineup that includes a concrete-fermented and aged Melon de Bourgogne, a Pinot Gris made in parallel to the Trousseau Gris, as well as a whole-cluster Gamay, a Trousseau Noir blend and several Syrahs, all from sites throughout the North Coast and Sierra Foothills.

Such esoteric varieties and vinification techniques have become a defining factor of many new-school California producers. This pragmatic, experimental and forward-thinking approach can only be a positive one as producers in California’s myriad subregions continue to figure out what grapes are suitable for their terroirs in the reality of global warming.

Old-school approach

The Wind Gap facility (now Pax Mahle Wines) was and still is a shared one; Arnot-Roberts and Ryme also occupied the space at the time of Schultz’s arrival, and have since established their own homes. The current occupants include Jolie-Laide, Jamie Motley, Raen, Martha Stoumen and Monte Rio.

Both technical and voluntary limitations emphasise the old-school nature of the winery and ideals of the winemakers that work there. There is no temperature control, and no inoculation with commercial yeasts is allowed.

Until now, Jolie-Laide’s existence has been linked to this shared space, but there are plans to establish its own home. Schultz is building out and restoring a facility from the 1980s in the hills of Santa Rosa called Adelaide Thomas. Once up and running, this space will house Jolie-Laide – and, continuing Mahle’s sharing tradition, perhaps a few friends too.

Schultz’s girlfriend, Jenny Schultz (coincidentally the same last name) has been part of the project for most of its existence. She juggles full-time winemaking jobs of her own at Three Sticks, Banshee and Westwood.

The winemaking practices at Jolie-Laide are simple and straightforward. Grapes are harvested at modest alcohol levels, and the finished wines display purity and a lifted texture thanks to the extended hang time their marginal climates provide.

Grapes are foot-crushed and fermented whole cluster. The red wines spend 11 months in neutral oak barrels then aged a further 14 months in bottle before release.

Striking and pure

The striking label artwork changes every year, making each release one of a kind. It promotes local artists, friends and photographers; the current vintage release features Kate Scott’s stunning flower photography. Prior collaborators include a minimalist watercolour series from Sabrina Garrasi as well as edgier photos from Brian Gaberman, photographer for skateboard brand Element.

Jolie-Laide breaks up its wines into two releases, with most of the lineup shipped out in the spring, and the Trousseau Gris and Trousseau Noir blends reaching customers in autumn.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the schedule has been adjusted. With global uncertainly at a height in March 2020, Schultz improvised and released his entire lineup at once, not knowing how long there would continue to be a wine market at all.

True to the ‘pretty-ugly’ name, the Jolie-Laide wines strike a midpoint between charming and earthy, clean and funky. These are wines of nuance, not power; and while showing a sense of place, purity of fruit flavour is of utmost importance to Schultz. ‘Wine is grape juice; it should taste like the fruit of the grape it comes from. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.’

While ‘cult status’ is often reserved for producers whose wines sit at higher, often prohibitive prices, that moniker could easily be applied to Jolie-Laide. The wines sell out every vintage, through their direct-to-consumer offer in the US as well as expanding worldwide distribution partnerships.

Sommeliers also adore the wines. They appear on Michelin-star restaurants throughout the US, disrupting many diners’ preconceived notions of California wine.

If the end goal of viticulture and winemaking is to express a place and a grape variety and transfer those characters into the glass, Jolie-Laide is a success story in the centre of a definitive movement in California.

Fact file

Owner Scott Schultz

Founded 2010

Winery location Sebastopol, California

Production 4,500 cases

Vineyards 8ha under contracts, mainly in Sonoma, Mendocino, and the Sierra Foothills

Wines 10 different bottlings, including Melon de Bourgogne, Pinot Gris, Trousseau Gris, Valdiguié Rosé, Gamay Noir, Syrah, a Trousseau Noir-based blend and a Syrah-Grenache-Mourvèdre blend

Jolie-Laide: a timeline

2007 Schultz works his first harvest at Realm Cellars

2008 Becomes full time cellarmaster for Realm

2010 Begins working at Wine Gap Cellars with Pax Mahle

2010 Founds Jolie-Laide label, releasing 100 cases of the 2010 Trousseau Gris, but the project is put on hold due to a motorcycle injury

2012 Returns to Wind Gap Cellars while building up Jolie-Laide

2017 Moves to Jolie-Laide full-time

A taste of Jolie-Laide

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Wine merchant Georges Duboeuf had been dubbed the ‘king of Beaujolais’, and sometimes the ‘Pope’, long before news of his death at the age of 86 on 5 January 2020.

Both nicknames demonstrate the magnitude of his influence on a French wine region famous for its Gamay wines but which has sometimes been overshadowed by more renowned winemaking areas of France.

Duboeuf, born on 14 April 1933, is arguably best known for helping to put the tradition of Beaujolais Nouveau on the global stage; a celebration of the first wines from the new vintage that takes place on the third Thursday of November.

He was also a passionate advocate of Beaujolais wines in general, telling Decanter’s John Livingstone-Learmonth in 2001, ‘Our ace card is the style of wine. It’s not like anywhere else. The fruit and the suave style cannot be repeated.’

How it began

Duboeuf was born at Crèches into a family of vineyard owners in Pouilly-Fuissé in southern Burgundy.

He initially spent time working in Paris, although the lifestyle didn’t suit and he returned south to Mâcon to learn more about the wine trade.

After starting to supply local restaurants by visiting a network of growers and bottling their wines on-site, he created a growers’ association known as Ecrin Mâconnais-Beaujolais.

Then, in 1964, Duboeuf founded his own merchant business focused on Beaujolais wines, which has stood the test of time and is today run by his son, Franck.

Beaujolais Nouveau

Duboeuf refused to take credit for creating the Nouveau tradition, in an interview with wine writer Anthony Rose for Decanter in 2007.

It was the Beaujolais wine union UIVB that took advantage of new rules in 1951 to set 15 November as the release date for the new vintage.

And Duboeuf recalled that UIVB director Gérard Canard had the idea to turn long-standing local celebrations of the new vintage into a sort of ‘Bastille day for wine’ – a reference to France’s national day on 14 July.

However, Duboeuf subsequently swung behind the move and certainly did more than most to bring Nouveau parties to wine lovers outside France.

Beyond Nouveau 

Duboeuf was also a strong proponent for the quality and diversity of Beaujolais wines.

‘Why were we so successful? Maybe thanks to a flair for marketing, or the ability to communicate a passion for the product,’ he said of his merchant business in 2007.

‘Beaujolais is about capturing the quintessence of Gamay, of the terroir and always the stamp of the vigneron. There’s no good négociant without a good vigneron.’

Dominique Piron, president of the Inter Beaujolais trade body, paid tribute to Georges Duboeuf’s life and said his name would be forever written into Beaujolais history.

‘Thank you Monsieur Georges for everything you brought to this region, you were the honour of Beaujolais,’ he said.

From the archive:

Read the results of our Cru Beaujolais 2015 panel tasting

Georges Duboeuf in his own words (interview from 2007)

Two tough hail years are testing Beaujolais’ new stars, as Andrew Jefford reports below.

I recently visited four of my favourite younger Beaujolais producers. Great wines, but bad news: all are facing career-threatening challenges thanks to two successive years of hail-induced losses.

Richard Rottiers, for example, has lost 80 per cent of his Moulin-à-Vent harvest in both 2016 and 2017. He’s trying to supplement the meagre harvest with some micro-négoce wines, but finding Moulin-à-Vent (his own appellation) is impossible, and sourcing organically grown fruit in the Beaujolais crus (where many vineyards are on steep slopes — acutely challenging for organic practices) is always difficult. The result? He’s decided to net his own vineyards against hail for 2018, even though he thinks that INAO will consequently force him to sell his Moulin-à-Vent as Vin de France. “Things have to change,” he says, “or we’ll die.”

The brilliant Mee Godard is in a similar fix. Her Morgon vineyards were hailed three times this summer. She’d normally hope for at least 35 hl/ha, but she’s harvested only 7 hl/ha. This, too, follows challenging losses last year as well – half the crop lost on her Morgon Corcellet (her largest holdings), for example. “I’m trying to get a little négociant card as I won’t be able to keep going if there is another year like this.”

Mathieu Mélinand and his partner Pauline Passot at Domaine des Marrans in Fleurie have lost 40 per cent of the harvest in 2017 after losing 50 per cent in 2016. Brother-and-sister team Louis-Benoît and Claude-Emmanuelle Desvignes have harvested just 23 hl/ha from their Morgon vineyards this year “though lots of our friends have nothing,” according to Louis-Benoît. “The Côte de Py was the worst hit on July 30^th, but we didn’t have a single parcel that wasn’t hit and some were completely wiped out.”

Ever-stormier summers are now a fact of life, particularly for vineyards sited in continental climate zones like Beaujolais and Burgundy. INAO has been running tests on netted vineyards (already commonplace in hail-prone Mendoza) for three years, and growers hope that eventually they will be permitted, perhaps from the 2019 vintage. Will it be too late for the vulnerable?

The irony in all of this is that Beaujolais cru quality in 2017 looks exceptionally good, after very fair results in 2016 and a generous, fine-quality 2015 vintage, making this the perfect moment to assess the attainment of these young stars. Nature’s violence, though, means that they cannot profit from their achievements as they deserve.

One of the perennial interests of ambitious Beaujolais is fermentation practices, which vary more in terms of fine detail from cellar to cellar than in any other region I know. (Even the name for a fermentation cellar in Beaujolais is different to elsewhere – here it’s called not a cave, a caveau or a chai but a cuvage.)

A trait shared by Rottiers, Godard, Domaine de Marrans and Desvignes is that they all work with whole-bunch fruit as far as possible, though the exact percentage depends on the vintage and the quality of the raw materials (the hail damage of the last two years has meant that some destemming has been obligatory).

Godard is the only one of the four to crush the harvest, while the rest work with uncrushed bunches. All favour long, unhurried fermentations of 12 to 20 days with varying levels of intervention: one pumpover a day for Mathieu Mélinand; submerged cap with some pumpover and occasional rack-and-return for Richard Rottiers; pumpover to begin with followed by rack-and-return for the Desvignes family; both punch-downs and pumpover for Mee Godard, whose fermentations are the longest of all, though with just gentle trickling of the wine through the cap at the end of fermentation.

After fermentation, the cellaring stages vary, too: the Desvignes family use no oak at all, but only concrete and steel, while the others use a combination of large wooden foudres, demi-muids and smaller wood, almost all of it older. The results, as I hope the tasting notes below will indicate, are some superb wines, wines of structure, depth and penetration as well as beguiling fruit: truly wines which could be served on all of the same occasions as any great young Burgundy or Northern Rhône red.

I’ve got one last question for you, though: are you ready for Beaujolais like that? There is a school of aesthetics which declares Beaujolais of this sort to be ‘over-extracted’ and lacking in the delicacy, freshness, smooth succulence and perfumed immediacy which has lain at the core of Beaujolais’ historic appeal, even in the crus.  Should, in other words, all Beaujolais look exclusively north for its aesthetic identity, or should it be permitted to look south, too?

Denaturing or falsifying the character of the crus is not at stake; the character of Gamay in these distinguished sites comes out with the clarity of a solo horn call in either case. But do you point the expressive range of fine Fleurie, Morgon or Moulin-à-Vent towards what was historically sanctioned alone — or do you allow these wines a full range of expressive possibilities, even if that might seem confronting at first?

I’m firmly in the latter camp – and here’s some examples from each grower to show why.

Morgon, Javernières, Louis Claude Desvignes 2016

Javernières is a sub-zone of Côte de Py with particularly generous, clayey soils sited on the southern part of the hill. Deep, translucent red in colour, with a warm, roasty, almost Gevrey-like style of aromatic fruit. On the palate, the wine is fleshy and exuberant, pure and long, and still in a whirl of scented fruit just now. The bass-line grippiness tells you that there will be plenty to sustain the wine in time once the fruit calms. 93 points /100

Morgon, Les Impénitents, Louis Claude Desvignes 2016

This special cuvée, a Beaujolais landmark, is made from three small parcels of vines within Javernières planted in 1912 and 1914. The scents of this clear, vividly coloured wine tell you that it was picked just on the cusp of perfect ripeness: blackberry and black cherry freshened by plant sap. It’s sweet, fresh, complete and grand, with an almost saline edge to the fruit, splendid structure (in general this cuvee is made with 100 per cent whole bunch), complexity and dimensions. 94

Morgon, Les Impénitents, Louis Claude Desvignes 2010

A fine example of an aged Morgon, this is clear red in colour with just a little bricking.  Sweet, warm, almost Pinotty scents dry grass, confit fruits and soft spices, but nothing in excess. Deep, complex and structured on the palate, with a breadth and generosity which (in contrast to the nose) looks south rather than north. Ready now. 91

Morgon, Grand Cras, Mee Godard 2016

Mee Godard has managed to capture the essence of the 2016 vintage with this clear, limpid, perfectly judged wine. Ethereal cherry scents mingle with a little ivy-leaf freshness, while the palate is poised, pure and alive with a tumble of flavours : sappy-salty cherry but much else, too. There’s nothing overburdened or clumsy here; just fluttering freshness.  92

Morgon, Côte de Py, Mee Godard 2015

Darkly coloured, with a splendid aromatic profile now losing its primary fruit charm and settling down into something stonier and more shadowy, less evident. On the palate, it is deep, textured and grippy but so succulent, too – perfectly meshed tannins, in other words. The acids are splendid, too: bright, vivid, fruit-drenched, slowly sinking towards that gruff stoniness so satisfyingly evident in the aromas. A virtuoso effort. 94 

Morgon, Passerelle 577, Mee Godard 2016

This is Mee Godard’s top-wine: a micro-selection whose name alludes to her ‘passage’ as an adopted Korean child to France and eventually to Morgon. In this case, the 2016 is even better than the 2015 as the oak is a little less evident, though don’t be misled: there is nothing forceful or galumphing about either wine. Ample, deftly coloured aromas draw you into a palate of fresh, zesty, gathered poise in which the energy of cherry, apple, plum and cranberry are dimpled with tannins and citrus zests. 95

Morgon, Corcelette, Domaine des Marrans 2015

Deep in colour, and whooping with kirsch-like black cherry fruits. The wine is dark, spicy, vivid and deep. It’s fresh and deep on the palate, too, with soft tannins and explosively juicy, sour-cherry acidity which combine in a depth-charge of energy and fresh exuberance. 91

Fleurie, Clos du Pavillon, Domaine des Marrans 2015

From 70-year-old vines planted in a site which has both clay and pink granite sands, and given 18 months in big wood before bottling. Deep in colour, with fresh, pristine, sweet red fruits and spices. After that disarming nose, the depth of the palate surprises: crunchy, fresh, deep, with curling, rich acidity with a stony, ‘granite’ impact to it and decent backing tannins, too. The fruit finishes with citrus-pith bitter edges, yet the grace and charm of Fleurie is amply evident, too. 92

Moulin-à-Vent, Richard Rottiers 2016

Because of the slashed crop, Rottiers only made a single cuvée of Moulin-à-Vent in this vintage. Limpid and translucent, with lightly sketched floral aromas. On the palate, the wine is light, delicate and elegant, too: a beautiful liaison of aromatic finesse and fine-grained tannins, delicately printed with the austere grace of holly berry and citrus. 92

Moulin-à-Vent, Richard Rottiers 2015

After the deft understatement of the 2016, you quickly sense the burry, brambly generosity of this more deeply coloured 2015. It’s not a massive mouthful, but it is very round, satisfying and complete, ballasted with sumptuous tannins and generous in expression rather than weight and force. 92 

Moulin-à-Vent, Champ de Cour, Richard Rottiers 2015

This is made from a tiny 0.8 ha parcel of old vines in the Champ de Cour climat with clay-over-granite soils; unusually in this vintage it had a month with its skins and stems. Deep though translucent in colour, with sweet, fresh, graceful scents of raspberry liqueur and Christmas spice. Rich, tender, subtle, detailed and velvet-textured on the palate, with almost tarry autumnal flavours and bramble fruits. Pure pleasure. 94

See all Andrew Jefford columns on Decanter.com

Anne Krebiehl MW recently attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon, but came away equally captivated by the 'hauntingly perfumed' Gamays also produced in the region.

Vivid cherry fruit, pepper and ample freshness: that is Oregon Gamay. This often overlooked grape is finding authentic expression in the temperate climate of America’s Pacific Northwest, where Oregon’s volcanic and sedimentary soils, its sunny days and strikingly cool nights are proving a perfect home.

Once outlawed in Burgundy, and more recently derided as unserious for its high volumes of Beaujolais Nouveau, Gamay carries reputational baggage. Nonetheless, in the right hands, especially hands that have crafted Pinot Noir, it can make hauntingly perfumed and age-worthy wines.

Scroll down for Anne’s top five Oregon Gamay wines to try

Doug Tunnel of Brick House Vineyards in the Willamette Valley’s Ribbon Ridge AVA was among the first to plant Gamay in 1992. To him, the climatic parallels between Beaujolais and Oregon were clear, ‘When I first started selling Gamay it took so much talking, people just did not know what it was’, he remembers.

Inspiration

But Tunnell’s Gamays have inspired others. By now there are approximately 30 acres of the variety in Oregon, where orchards still outnumber vineyards. There is talk is of grubbing up fruit trees to plant more. ‘I think at this moment a lot of people want to make Gamay but there is just not enough planted’, says Thomas Houseman, winemaker at Anne Amie Vineyards, who clearly loves the grape.

Oregon Gamay almost always ripens later than Pinot Noir while holding its acidity well. ‘We never have to acidulate’, attests Brad McLeroy of Ayres Vineyard, who is thinking of planting more acres.

Fermentation

Both carbonic maceration and traditional skin fermentation are used. The carbonic styles are a hit as chilled reds for summer, while the traditionally fermented styles, often with a portion of whole bunches, are increasingly Pinot-esque.

Authentic

John Grochau of Grochau Cellars notes that the grape’s thicker skin and upright growth are a natural protection against rot, a great asset in a damp climate. But he is also clear that Gamay does not achieve Pinot Noir prices, despite the same input and dedication.

This may make it difficult to justify the expense of planting, at least for now, but for consumers these hand-crafted, authentic wines represent fantastic value.

Anne’s top five Oregon Gamay wines to try:

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Decanter’s experts tasted and discussed cru Beaujolais 2015 for the September 2017 issue of Decanter magazine.

While there were no outright stars, these wines still impressed for their character, structure and ageability – not to mention food friendliness and value. With an average price of between £10 and £18, there is still plenty here to praise.

The scores:

121 wines tasted

Exceptional – 0

Outstanding – 0

Highly Recommended – 32

Recommended – 65

Commended – 19

Fair – 5

Poor – 0

Faulty – 0

The judges:

Andy Howard MW; James Lawther MW; Matt Wilkin MS

Click here to view the full results of the cru Beaujolais 2015 panel tasting

At a similar panel tasting of cru Beaujolais in the August 2015 issue, both Andy Howard MW and James Lawther MW came away enthralled by the 2013 vintage. ‘And because 2015 is so highly regarded, I expected to see things moving to an even higher level,’ said Howard.

‘Unfortunately, while there were a lot of good wines, nothing really elevated itself to the top tier across the different crus.’

In terms of flavour spectrum, these 2015 vintage wines showcased Gamay’s classic red cherry profile, with the more structured versions displaying notes of black and sour cherry.

‘There was plenty of character and density,’ thought Matt Wilkin MS, while Howard also picked out a ‘granitic-graphite’ element in quite a few examples, noting: ‘That’s an additional string to the bow that you don’t get in the non-cru wines.’

Overall, the biggest let-down was the lack of high-scoring wines. ‘I was surprised Côte du Py didn’t feature more strongly – that was a disappointment,’ said Howard. ‘Of course, some wines may be in lock-down at this point, and need time to express themselves.’

Continue reading below

Cru Beaujolais 2015 panel tasting top scorers:

To read Decanter’s full panel tasting reports, subscribe to Decanter magazine – available in print and digital.

The vintage

Once in a lifetime vintage for many producers, but less classic in style. Dark, rich and powerful. Structured for ageing.

Winemaking

By and large the majority of growers practise a form of semi-carbonic maceration coupled with pumping over, pigeage or rack and return to gain more substance and structure. The wines are then aged in neutral tank or old casks for roughly a year. The fruit expression should be apparent, but the extent of extraction and length of cuvaison (up to 15 days) will also have a say in the style of the wine, as will the quality of the press wine. Growers are also being encouraged to highlight the character of site-specific wines by marking the name of the lieu-dit on the label, adding another tweak to the nuance of the wine.

The crus

Granite predominates in Chiroubles, Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent and Régnié, but whereas Chiroubles with its steep slopes and higher altitude produces lively, floral scented wines, Fleurie, with its dramatic inclines lower down, is elegant, perfumed and finely textured. Moulin-à-Vent has gentler contours and is complex and longer ageing, while Régnié errs on the side of suppleness and fruit.

Juliénas has the lowest granite content but plenty of ‘blue stone’ sedimentary rock, as does the Côte de Brouilly; the former exudes minerality, the latter generosity and elegance. Blue stone appears again with granite and alluvial deposits in Morgon, where the finely structured wines have the ability to age. Chénas can also be structured whereas St-Amour, with its more diverse soils, is light and appetising. The most southerly cru, Brouilly, is also the largest and produces solid, fruit-driven wines to be appreciated young.

All three agreed that Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent stood out for their structure and ageing potential. The best of Chiroubles also displayed the cru’s lighter, floral hallmark style, but Howard felt that Fleurie showed less consistency. Chénas and Côte de Brouilly had a low turnout, so it was difficult to form an overall conclusion.

Alcohol

There was a slight criticism over alcohol levels. ‘At the leafier, leaner side of cru Beaujolais, some wines are around 12.5%, moving up to 13% and 13.5%. But 14.5% is not what I want or look for,’ said Lawther. But, he added, ‘they were the exceptions rather than the rule’.

Ageability

With the exception of the top Moulin-à-Vent and Morgon wines, most are drinkable now. Equally, the best also have the capacity keep for another seven to 10 years thanks to their acidity and structure, as Lawther pointed out. The panel also agreed that people should keep their cru Beaujolais longer than they tend to.

Food pairing

From his sommelier perspective, Wilkin advised: ‘For the prettier, lighter-styled, bright wines you can go for classic duck egg with lardons. But some of the other wines are quite weighty and concentrated, and demand grilled meats or even fatty beef cuts like bavet or onglet. Cru Beaujolais goes beyond the charcuterie board!’

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Some of the Beaujolais 2017 harvest may have been lost after vineyards were hit by a torrent of summer hail.

Image credit: @ophelie_gf

A fierce hailstorm hit the Beaujolais region at 4:45pm on 10 July.

It’s a case of déjà-vu for some producers after the same corridor of Beaujolais vineyards suffered from hail in June 2016, said Mélina Condy from region wine body InterBeaujolais.

‘But this is on a on a bigger and wider scale,’ she told Decanter.com.

Early signs suggested that Beaujolais Crus, situated in the north, were among the worst vineyard affected. From Beaujeu to Moulin-à-Vent, the storm impacted Chiroubles, the north of Régnié, Morgon, Chenas, Moulin-à-Vent and Fleurie.

The pretty village of Fleurie was particularly badly hit, with violent winds and a lot of houses and wineries damaged. The fire department was overwhelmed with calls for the entire night between Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent.

‘It was a tornado; I have rarely seen this,’ said Dominique Piron, president of InterBeaujolais and owner of Domaine Piron.

Producers triggered anti-hail canons but these were not enough and the wine also caused damage. ‘The small hailstones and the wind had a sandblasting effect’ on the vines, Piron added.

InterBeaujolais officials and winemakers were assessing damage on Tuesday morning (11 July), but it was too early to give a detailed picture.

‘A lot of people are affected, to varying degrees,’ said Piron.

‘In our modern world, it is difficult to accept such a sudden event. But it is unfortunately the lot of those who work with nature.’

Editing by Chris Mercer

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Andrew Jefford finds out how Beaujolais is setting itself to rights – with help from the great 2015 vintage. Read below and see several Beaujolais Cru wines to seek out.

“Thank God for 2015!” I was in Villefranche, chatting with Jean Bourjade, the Director of Inter-Beaujolais at the beginning of this month, and it was when I asked about 2015 that he broke into that English expostulation. The quality of the cru wines from that vintage is outstanding (see a selection of tasting notes below), and it seems to have come at the right time for the region as it slowly lifts itself out of the doldrums which saw 6,000 ha uprooted over the last decade and a half. There’s nothing like a good vintage to put wind in the sails.

According to Bourjade, Beaujolais has just spent a million euros on the most comprehensive soil study ever undertaken by a single region. This is being carried out by the Isère-based Sigales (a company which has carried out similar vineyard studies in Switzerland, as well as for Mâcon, Savoie and the Rhône regions), and it’s involved taking over 6,000 soil core samples as well as digging 600 different trenches all over the region since 2010. At least 1500 Beaujolais growers have got involved in meetings connected with the study, and each of the ten crus now has a much more comprehensive soil map than those formerly available. The study is concluding with further research in the Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais zone at present.

What every wine student learns is that Beaujolais is (along with the nearby northern Rhône) one of the few French regions to boast ‘granite soils’ — but the study has filled out this vague generalization with ample detail. There’s only one cru, for example, whose soils are entirely based on weathered granite materials (saprolite), and that is Chiroubles. Only three others (Fleurie, Régnié and Moulin-à-Vent) can claim that over half their soils are derived from granite.

For the rest, the picture is much more complex, with many soils based on alluvial deposits and sedimentary materials of volcanic origin (the ‘blue stones’ found particularly in Côte de Brouilly and Juliénas, but also to a lesser extent in Morgon, Brouilly and St Amour). Juliénas has the lowest percentage of granite-derived soils (just 14%). In general, the trenches dug by the Sigales team showed that the average maximum depth to which the roots reached was 142 cm: deep enough to prove that a huge amount of weathering of bedrock has gone on in Beaujolais over the last several million years.

Of course an incantation of soil types can only take producers some way towards an understanding of the potential of his or her vineyards, but there is widespread recognition in Beaujolais that research of this sort, and the cherishing of qualitative nuance which it implies, has been neglected in the past. Something else the region is doing, stressed Bourjade, is encouraging growers to use lieux-dits names as a way of recovering the ‘climats’ which Beaujolais once possessed (each climat grouped together a number of different lieux-dits under a communal name, Côte de Py in Morgon being a well-known example). These climats were detailed and submitted to INAO in the early part of the twentieth century – but, with typical bad luck, the Beaujolais dossier was lost as some point. The region itself only discovered this in 2009 when it was informed by the INAO that the climats had ‘no official recognition’ – hence the recovery effort.

What we could call swelling ‘Beaujolais Pride’ is not simply evident at a regional level but among growers and, no less importantly, négociants, too. To cite just one example, I was impressed with the ‘Grandes Mises’ series of cru wines from Mommessin when I tried these in 2014, and when they again showed outstandingly well in the 2015 tasting I went to visit their base at Quincié. “We have around 50 growing partners in Beaujolais,” oenologist Jean-Baptiste Bachevillier told me, “and we’ve been working with many of them for a very long time. The idea was to work with them on parcel selections, to make really serious wines – wines which can hold their head up high and give Beaujolais back its fine-wine identity.” That is indeed what’s needed, at every level — and 2015 has helped.

The Beaujolais 2015 vintage

The growing season, growers reported, unfolded according to the script they would have written for themselves – except that quantities were smaller than they would have liked. The main threat to quality came towards the end of July, when the vines were beginning to show signs of drought stress, but cooler nights and showers in August helped enormously, with most beginning harvest towards the end of that month. Acidities were fresher and balances livelier than in 2009, while the wines avoided some of the hardness of 2005, with a sweeter and more tender style. Beaujolais vinifications are so various and sometimes risk-taking in style, however, that it’s still important to buy on recommendation; my January Villefranche tasting revealed disappointments as well as great buys (some notes were made during an earlier visit in October 2015).

2015 Beaujolais Crus: A selection

Brouilly, Ch de Pierreux 2015

The Boisset-owned Ch de Pierreux in Brouilly is one of the region’s most lustrously endowed estates, with no fewer than 190 ha planted with Gamay. The 2015 is dark, with scents of dark cherry and dug earth; the palate is intense, crunchy, spicy, pure and long, very much in the black-fruit idiom but without ever toppling into clumsiness. 90

Chénas, Vigne de 1939, Pascal Aufranc 2015

Deep, dark, almost saturated black red, with a fine architecture of lush, rich fruits: cherry, mulberry, almost peach, too. There is impressive depth of fruit, resonance and inner perfumes to this amply ripe, old-vine cuvée. Supple tannins (though the fruit is not destemmed). 90 

Côte de Brouilly, Ch Thivin 2015

Perhaps it’s auto-suggestion, but you expect airy grace from vineyards on the slopes of Mont Brouilly, and that’s always what the limpid, refreshing yet ringingly pure wines of Ch Thivin provide. The 2015 vintage, though, enabled the fruit to gather its forces to almost overwhelming effect: unusually intricate allusions on the nose, then a cloudburst of fruit on the tongue, singing, vivid and graceful. 93

Fleurie, Clos de la Roilette 2015

Alain Coudert’s 9-ha Clos de la Roilette shows copy-book floral aomas in 2015 (peony and freesia bringing the plum-strawberry extra charm). On the palate there’s a big splash of red fruit with both flower and spice perfumes (a touch of tar, too) to carry, jostle and tickle the fruits along. 91

Juliénas, Ch des Capitans, Duboeuf 2015

As you’d expect, there are many outstanding Duboeuf bottling from 2015 and the Ch des Capitans stands out not least because it’s one of the oaked wines of the vintage which carries that extra flavour charge with great panache. The ‘Capitans’ climat is one sited on alluvial piedmont soils, and the wine’s weighty, dense, unctuous style, with lots of chew to it, strikes a very different note to most of its peers. 91

Morgon, Côte de Py, Dominique Piron 2015

A gruffer, stonier, less evidently fruity scent than many of its peers, though warm, vivid red fruits are nonetheless in evidence. On the palate, this is a dense, close-grained and impressively structured – textured, grippy, warm, almost meaty, packed with an energy which comes from fruit but which seems to express so much more than fruit. 92

Moulin-à-Vent, Ch du Moulin-a-Vent 2015

The aromas of this 2015 are finely composed already: fresh red and black fruits, and a gentle honeyed sweetness to balance out that freshness and give it some filling warmth. On the palate, this is complex, fine-meshed midweight with deftly woven fruits, currants and spices. An exercise in unforced grace from a vintage in which it was easy to push all the buttons. 91

St Amour, Mommessin ‘Les Grandes Mises’ 2015

I enjoyed tasting this new Mommessin range so much that it’s hard to pick out just one wine from it (it includes, by the way, a Morgon Grand Cras as well as a Morgon Côte de Py), but the St Amour version effortlessly dominated the other wines from that cru with which it was served, with ample aromatic elegance, freshness and sweet charm. The palate was concentrated, elegant again, delicately structured and aromatically precise: a grippy black-cherry base with a mist of fresh raspberry top notes. 91

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The 10 crus of Beaujolais have instructed a series of working groups to identify and list individual climats by June next year, as they seek to emulate Burgundy by linking vineyards more closely to terroir.

The programme follows a four year study into the terroir across the Beaujolais crus of Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly, Regnié, Morgon, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Moulin à Vent, Chénas, Juliénas and Saint Amour that was published through a series of maps in 2014.

The maps identified that the soils types of the Beaujolais crus are far more complex than previously thought.

This lends weight to the idea of profiling and recording individual plots of vines, or climats, in a similar way to the Côte d’Or or Côte Chalonnaise in Burgundy.

Audrey Charton, president of the ODG des Crus du Beaujolais, said that this will be the first step towards asking for recognition of Premier Cru sites in the region, and that the climat list will be submitted for official recognition by French authorities in June 2016.

• READ: Anson on Thursday: Just don’t call them Crus du Beaujolais

‘Each appellation has its own terroir and typicity, and our job now is to record their complexity. We also have to work on establishing stricter viticultural and vinification guidelines within each appellation to ensure promotion of the terroir.’

Although the process is at an early stage, it is expected that in an appellation such as Moulin à Vent will contain around 60 climats, although only a small number of those would be eligible eventually for Premier Cru status.

‘One of our key tasks is not only mapping the soils across the crus, but convincing the winemakers of the treasures they have beneath their feet,’ Charton said. ‘Some don’t even realise how good their terroir can be.’

• Top 2013 cru Beaujolais reds to try

There are more signs of rising tension between Beaujolais winemakers after Sebastien Coquard, president of the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages body, told producers he was stepping down.

Coquard is believed to have resigned from his position as president of the ODG (trade body) for Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages on 17 October.

An email memo signed by Coquard and seen by Decanter.com says that he faced ‘threats’ to his privacy and was under ‘untolerable’ pressure.

No allegations were made against specific individuals, but the move is a further sign of tension in Beaujolais, where winemakers recently agreed an uneasy truce with local merchants over prices for the promising 2015 vintage.

‘I have constantly repeated, explained and warned that without a fundamental re-evaluation of our economic organisation and marketing methods, we will not succeed in reversing a curve that that has been dropping for over 20 years,’ says the statement signed by Coquard and dated 17 October. He questioned winemakers’ commitment to unity.

‘I have had enough of working under pressure, and even receiving threats to my privacy. This is unacceptable and I cannot tolerate it.

‘In this context, I have decided to reclaim my freedom. So I have announced to the board of the ODG [the regional body], which met on Friday 16 October, that I am resigning from the post of president.’

• READ: Beaujolais winemakers agree uneasy truce

Coquard had been president of the local winemaking council since 2013, and involved in the Beaujolais region for eight years.

Recent street protests in Villefranche-sur-Saône were only the latest episode of a turbulent period for Beaujolais. Producers were also split over proposed appellation rule changes last December.

‘The is always some pressure on people like us,’ Frédéric Laveur, président of ODG Beaujolais Villages and owner of Domaine de la Petite Maison Haute. ‘We are vignerons and our job is to make wine, not to make politics. In a very difficult period, I can understand that people resigned. Sebastien Coquard was an excellent President.’

• READ: Anson – Just don’t call them Beaujolais Crus

(Editing by Chris Mercer)

The 2015 vintage may hold a tantalising opportunity for those looking to push the quality message of Beaujolais around the region's 10 'crus', writes Jane Anson. But is there a bigger image problem for producers?

Downtown Lyon

It’s not just the Michelin-starred restaurants that make Lyon such a foodie town. There are, admittedly, 14 of them, but the true joy of Lyon is to search out the ever-changing scene of wine bars, brasseries and neighbourhood bistros that give a nod to the city’s heritage while reinventing what it looks like today.

One of the best places to get a feel for this is The Confluence, an urban renewal project led by architects including Herzog & de Meuron that is halfway through an astonishing renovation of a rundown warehouse district set at the confluence of the Saône and Rhone rivers.

These are the great wine rivers that give Lyon its heart, and The Confluence should offer hope to a cluster of wine appellations that sit alongside their banks and are equally looking for a reinvention.

Impossible to drive through this landscape, that spines upwards from the town of Belleville, 50km north of Lyon along the Saône river, without the breath catching in your throat. Brouilly and its Côte, Regnié, Morgon, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Moulin à Vent, Chénas, Juliénas and Saint Amour may not have the dramatic escarpments of Côte Rotie to the south of Lyon, but they reward instead with an immoderate array of granite, silex, limestone, marne, clay and schist soils hidden within gently billowing slopes that glide from one to the other, set by turns towards the morning or evening sun, and everything in between.

‘Crus du Beaujolais’

The exact nature of the soils of these 10 Beaujolais crus – or ‘crus du Beaujolais’ – has finally been subject to detailed geological studies carried between 2010 and 2014. A resulting series of maps was issued last year that shows exactly how much more there is to these soils beyond the ‘granite’ that is most typically assigned to them.

I saw these maps hanging on the walls of every estate that I visited in Fleurie, Brouilly and Moulin à Vent last week. They have become a talisman for the continued drive towards separating the crus from the mother region of Beaujolais. And a way to establish the crus as separate, it is worth adding, from each other.

‘Would anyone speak about Vosne-Romanée as only a cru de Bourgogne?’. Alexandra de Vazeilles at Château des Bachelards in Fleurie asks me several versions of this question over the course of our two days together. ‘Would we ever see Pauillac as simply a cru de Bordeaux? These are separate appellations with their own identities, and we need to do a better job of conveying that to wine lovers’.

De Vazeilles, who prefers to declassify her non-Fleurie or Saint Amour vines into IGP Collines Rhodaniennes rather than label them Beaujolais Villages, is part of a new generation of winemakers determined to do exactly that.

She is fully supportive of the decision taken earlier this year to break away from Beaujolais’ umbrella winemaking union and believes the next step should be the creation of separate wine syndicates (ODGs) to oversee each appellation, as currently there is one single ODG for the 10 Beaujolais Crus.

Chapoutier interest

It is a perfect example of the reflex in Beaujolais to paint itself with a broad brush – and is something that is repeated at subtle levels all over the region. I did a fascinating tasting of the 2014 vintage with director Gregoire Hoppenot of Maison Trenel, the négociant house that was bought a few months ago by Michel Chapoutier.

The bottles in front of us came from eight of the ‘crus’, ranging in taste from a spicy, tannic Morgon to a pure example of the floral sexiness of Fleurie. The Brouilly lacked some finesse, while the Saint Amour was packed with minerality and smokiness – very different, and yet each bottle was rather astonishingly priced the same.

‘That was the policy for many years,’ Hoppenot – who is also new to Trenel, as is winemaker Nicolas Dietrich – said with a barely perceptible shrug before adding perhaps a little undiplomatically, ‘The Chapoutier house doesn’t have the same blind spots because it is not from Beaujolais’.

• READ: Beaujolais: revival of the fittest

And there is a palpable feeling that the excellent 2015 vintage is the moment to showcase how the gamay grown in these vineyards is capable of greatness. It should be accepted by now that age, yield control and terroir change everything for this grape. I love the natural acidity of gamay that when taken in hand delivers lift and a sense of unforced pleasure.

Stack that up alongside the fleshy vibrancy of its fruit and it’s easy to see why the best of these wines are just so mouth-wateringly moreish. And yet the message stubbornly refuses to catch on. There was a chorus of approval for the 2009 and 2010 vintages, but things have gone quiet since (even the excellent 2011 didn’t grab the same headlines). Now 2015 holds out a tantalising opportunity.

‘Exceptional concentration, small yields, good alcohol levels, great ageing potential, somewhere between 2005 and 2009 in terms of character,’ is how Hoppenot describes the 2015. And crucially, Chapoutier plans to make the most of its potential. He is planning, among other measures, to buy grapes rather than finished wine from his existing growers, to buy vines himself, and to isolate individual climats to vinify separately.

Chapoutier is at the beginning of a strategy already employed by Burgundy’s Maison Albert Bichot at Domaine de Rochegrès, Louis Jadot at Château des Jacques and the Labruyère family at Domaine Labruyère, all in Moulin à Vent. All have notably increased their focus on vinifiying and bottling individual terroirs – joining small producers such as Richard Rottiers who has been bottling cuvées such as the brilliant Moulin à Vent Dernier Souffle, from a plot just next to the cemetery in Romanèche-Thorins, since 2010.

They are not yet silencing the arguments that continue to rage around the future direction of these Saône vineyards, but they are providing some wonderful-tasting contributions to the debate.

• See Decanter’s top 2013 Beaujolais ‘cru’ wines

Beaujolais winemakers and negociants have agreed on an unofficial minimum price for this year's vintage, but it is a fragile peace.

Following winemaker protests over Beaujolais prices in September, the region’s négociants have reached an unofficial agreement to buy bulk wine for both Beaujolais Villages and Beaujolais primeurs 2015 at a price of no less than €200 per 100 litres – equivalent to around €1.5 per bottle.

Organic wine will be sold at no less than €300 per 100 litres.

More than 500 Beaujolais winemakers protested in Villefranche-sue-Saone, claiming they were being offered 25% less money for what appears to be a very good 2015 vintage versus prices paid for 2014. Producers had been offered €180 per 100 litres and were demanding at least €220.

The local winemaking council said of the compromise total of €200, ‘Any wine sold below this price will result in the strongest action being taken.’

But, there were signs that Beaujolais Villages producers remain unhappy. ‘The quality of 2015 is truly exceptional,’ Gregoire Hoppenot, of Maison Tremel, told decanter.com.

‘But yields are low because of the drought, so the price offered was untenable. However, the idea of selling both Beauolais Villages and Beaujolais at the same price is crazy. The only good thing about this suggestion is that this should encourage organic viticulture across the region.’

‘There is a decision agreed to in a meeting, and then the reality,’ said Gilles Gelin of Domaine des Nugues in Fleurie, who also owns 44 acres of Beaujolais Villages. ‘I can’t see this lasting’.

Hundreds of Beaujolais winemakers have marched through the streets of Villefranche-sur-Saône to call for higher prices for Beaujolais Nouveau.

Many negociants, who buy the wine in bulk for resale under their own labels, have offered just €180 per hectolitre of Beaujolais Nouveau, according to those at the Beaujolais winemakers protest. Around 500 producers took to the streets on 25 September.

Between 2011 and 2012, prices increased from €162.68 to €221.54, due to winter frost, before dropping to €217.95 last year.

• READ: Who is drinking Beaujolais Nouveau?

‘A decrease to €180 for a great vintage like 2015 is absurd,’ Landry Collonge, of Domaine André Collonge et Fils told Decanter.com, ‘especially since the 2015 yields are 15% to 20% down due to the drought.’

At this price, ‘we will make no profit; we demand a revaluation in order to sustain our business and our family,’ he added.

• READ: Beaujolais aims for sparkling wine appellation

In ten years, sales of Beaujolais Nouveau have fallen twice, reflecting a structural rather than an economic problem in the region.

The price per hectare ranges from €11,000 against €90,000 for the same area in the Moulin-à-Vent appellation, and ‘the power of the négociants is increasingly important and does not allow us to compete and to have strength in negotiating,’ concluded Landry Collonge.

Bulk wines represent 85% of the volume of each vintage produced in Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau, and two major players, Georges Duboeuf and Boisset, share the market with some co-operatives.

There’s a shake-up going on in Beaujolais that wine lovers should heed. The Beaujolais crus, in particular, are demonstrating that there’s more to the Gamay grape than just Nouveau. A series of successful vintages, including the exceptional 2009, are part of the reason but old vines, a unique terroir and a growing band of diligent and determined producers are also vital factors.

Trying to convince consumers that Beaujolais reds can be serious is not an easy task. Beaujolais Nouveau has held such a stranglehold on taste and communication since the 1970s that it’s difficult to believe the region produces anything other than this light, fruity and rather standardised libation. Indeed, at the height of its success in the late 1980s, Nouveau accounted for more than half of the region’s production. This has now been throttled back to about a third (30 million bottles in 2013) but continues to have an impact on perception.Of more interest to consumers, though, is what’s different in the glass. What do you get that is above and beyond regular Beaujolais? Well, at their best, these are wines of real personality and character that speak of soil and climate. The grape may be Gamay, but the crus find some resonance with the wines of their Burgundian neighbours to thenorth and those from the northern Rhône some 70km south. A semi-continental climate and poor, granite-based soils (those in southern Beaujolais are richer and produce lighter wines) provide freshness and structure, the acidity and supple tannins contributing a linear precision and firmness ideally enjoyed with food. Alcohol levels are a reasonable 12.5% to 13%.

Aromatically, one can find minerality, for want of a better word, with often a hint of the pepper and spice associated with the northern Rhône. The fruit expression can be red or dark depending on the style of the vintage, the crus with their southerly and easterly hillside exposures ripening earlier than vineyards at the southern end of the region. In short the crus have a delicious smack of fruit but also the structure to age, some resembling a mature Pinot Noir with a few years in bottle.

James Lawther MW picks his top cru Beaujolais reds from the 2013 vintage…

This may be the cleverest piece of vineyard sourcing I’ve ever come across, and it led to the creation of one of France’s most enduringly successful Vin de Pays (now IGP) wines.

I never met the man responsible for it, Denis Fetzmann, and in 2013 he retired from his long-held post in charge of the domaine holdings of Louis Latour. I recently visited its birthplace, though, and discovered that there’s a new chapter unfolding, of which more later.

The story began in the 1970s; the sixth Louis Latour, frustrated at Burgundy’s inconsistency, asked Fetzmann to try to find a Mâcon-like Chardonnay somewhere in the south of France. It must have been tempting for the young man to head straight for the open, bargain-priced prairies of Hérault and Aude. Fetzmann, though, decided to go … not too far. Just to Alba-la-Romaine, across the Rhône from Montélimar in the southern Ardèche, even though the vineyards were still full of hybrids back then, and few growers had decent Chardonnay to sell. What did he sniff out there?

This is the southern end of the same département where you’ll find St Joseph, Cornas and St Péray. It’s karst country, gorge-incised, white with limestone, set well back from the Rhône itself; warm by latitude, fresh by altitude. As importantly, Fetzmann found a reliable partner for this ambitious project in the local Vignerons Ardéchois co-operative group (UVICA).

The result worked magnificently well, though Latour’s fellow négociants had deep misgivings about the association of a Burgundy label with southern French Chardonnay (which was why Latour felt it had to create a special bottle for this wine). There are two versions, succinctly contrastive: the Ardèche Chardonnay, a near-perfect basic varietal; and the Grand Ardèche, a barrel-fermented parcel selection, using around 25 per cent new wood. I’ve long been a fan of both wines, particularly the latter (which can sew havoc in blind tastings of serious white burgundy) and it remains on fine form – see the tasting notes at the end of this blog.

The secrets? It’s machine-harvested – but into small boxes using specially adapted machines, for less brutal fruit handling. Gravity-pressed without débourbage, “for a bit more fat and richness,” according to the Latour Ardèche technical director Alain Berthon. Lots of wild yeast; a warmer rather than cooler fermentation; full malolactic fermentation; and up to 10 months without racking. Initially the target was 13.5%, but now Latour is looking for 13% and something a little more ‘nervous’. (Just a little but no more: the TA remains under 5 g/l as tartaric, with a pH of 3.5 – all very drinkable). But the real secret, of course, is that this part of Ardèche can grow truly impressive Chardonnay, as the percipient Fetzmann calculated. Louis Latour sells around two million bottles of its Ardèche Chardonnay wines every year.

That, though, is not all. At the same time as visiting Latour, I had a chance to see what else the Vignerons Ardéchois and their independent IGP colleagues were up to.

Those besotted with ‘modest varieties’ will know IGP Ardèche as the place to go looking for reds made from Chatus, an ancient indigenous vine here (notably mentioned by Olivier de Serres, the father of French agronomy, who lived locally). This part of the Ardèche doesn’t strike me as red-wine country (many are grassy, herbaceous and bitter-edged), but Chatus is probably the most interesting – while light, it can have aromatic complexity and a seriousness of flavour hard to find in Merlot, Syrah or even Gamay here. I’m sure we’ll see better in the future.

The Vignerons Ardéchois have had huge success with rosé wines, to their own surprise (and to mine): it’s the biggest selling category for this giant cooperative group (which produced the equivalent of 57 million bottles in 2014). But hey, everyone wants to drink rosé nowadays, and these deeper-than-Provence versions are competently made and attractively priced.

It was when I began tasting the Viogniers, though, that the marks began to fly. The Vignerons Ardéchois have one called Terre d’Eglantier, and the 2014 version is deft, graceful, haunting and moreish: a difficult achievement with this sometimes clumsy grape. There are, too, outstanding versions from a number of other producers, notably the startlingly good 2014 Trias Cevenol Viognier from the Lablachère cooperative (jasmine and citrus-blossom aromas with a saline edge); the 2013 Cuvée Viognier from Domaine du Grangeon (poised, textured and elegant); and the impressively dense and succulent 2013 Que Sa Quo from Benoît Salel and Elise Renaud. In contrast to its peers, this final wine is grown a little further north on granite (not limestone) and stake-trained; Benoît Salel formerly worked with Pierre Gaillard.

Louis Latour, too, produces its own Ardèche Viognier (the 2014 is another bullseye varietal) as well as a version called Duo in which Viognier is co-fermented with Chardonnay (the 2014 is a pleasant wine though I don’t see the point of this blend when the varietal wines themselves are so gastronomically apt).

There are some promising late-harvest Viogniers here too, including the floral and apricotty 2014 Cuvée Mathilde from Domaine Vigier, with aperitif-style sweetness: a marvel at under 10 euros. Chardonnay over-performs in southern Ardèche – but Viognier may eventually prove still more successful (the local Viognier grape price, significantly, has now overtaken that for Chardonnay); it can’t be long before there’s some serious Northern Rhône Viognier investment. If Viognier like this came from aspiring New World locations, it would be winning medals by the armful. Why not an appellation for Viognier and Chardonnay here, too?

2014 Ardèche Chardonnay, IGP, Louis Latour

Fresh, muted yet subtle aromas, with elegant, poised flavours, perfectly weighted in the mouth and leaving it fresh and clean: a benchmark varietal with real class. 88

2013 Grand Ardèche Chardonnay, IGP, Louis Latour

Leesy, soft, stealthy aromas, with a concentrated, sustained palate, sappy balance and satisfying depth, length and structure. 91

2012 Grand Ardèche Chardonnay, IGP, Louis Latour

The extra year in bottle has ripened and teased out the rich, lemony fruit. On the palate, by contrast, this is a little nervier and tangier than usual while retaining all the benchmark elegance of the series. 89

2010 Grand Ardèche Chardonnay, IGP, Louis Latour

There’s a powder-puff perfection to the scented lemon, while the palate seems to be reaching some sort of an apogee, too: pure, long, concentrated and chic. 93

2007 Grand Ardèche Chardonnay, IGP, Louis Latour

Here’s one for those nostalgic about ‘classic’ Meursault, or who like well-aged Blanc de Blancs Champagne: mellow, glowing, full of sweet brioche and nuts and held in place by a twist of lemon peel. Resonant and long: at its peak. 92

2005 Grand Ardèche IGP, Chardonnay, Louis Latour

The butter here is beginning to flirt with fudge; mellow, nutty and open, but probably at its best a couple of years ago. 88

More Jefford columns:

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The head of the wine council for Beaujolais has revealed that the region is hoping to gain appellation status for its sparkling wines, although approval is expected to take around five years.

Beaujolais has been producing a small quantity of sparkling wines over the past few decades, but labelled as table wines under the Vins de France classification.

Jean Bourjade, managing director of Inter Beaujolais, said a sparkling Beaujolais appellation would not try to compete with well-established sparkling wines, such as Champagne, Prosecco or Cava.

He said producers would offer something a bit different – with a comparatively low alcohol level of 9% abv and higher residual sugar. Made from the Gamay grape, the wines still have a natural acidity, freshness and ‘explosion of fruit’, said Bourjade.

As well as tapping into the worldwide popularity of sparkling wine, Inter Beaujolais hopes that a Beaujolais sparkling wine will help with an ongoing campaign to reduce the region’s reputation for Beaujolais Nouveau from the Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages areas.

The sparkling wines will not be made in the 10 Beaujolais Crus.

If appellation status is achieved, Bourjade said sparkling Beaujolais will dominate a new chunk of an ‘almost untapped market’.

The production levels for the sparkling wine are currently between 600,000 and 800,000 bottles per year, but if awarded appellation status this could reach ‘millions and millions’, according to Bourjade.

Separately, Bourjade added that Beaujolais Nouveau sales have grown consecutively in the UK for the past four years, despite Inter Beaujolais investing no marketing money in the category.

See the results from the cru Beaujolais 2013s panel tasting in the August issue of Decanter – on sale now or subscribe here.

See related Decanter articles on Beaujolais:

Beaujolais: revival of the fittest

From St-Amour in the north to Brouilly in the south, the 10 crus of Beaujolais suffered in the past from

Who is drinking Beaujolais Nouveau?

Beaujolais Nouveau may be derided as a gimmick by some wine lovers, but official figures in the Decanter graphic below

Michel Chapoutier buys Beaujolais negociant

Michel Chapoutier, owner of numerous wine estates in the northern and southern Rhone, has acquired Beaujolais negociant La Maison Trenel.

From St-Amour in the north to Brouilly in the south, the 10 crus of Beaujolais suffered in the past from a lack of investment and poor winemaking, not to mention the glut of Nouveau. But things have changed, says James Lawther MW

Claude-Edouard Geoffray of Chateau Thivin (right); pumping Gamay juice back over the skins

Quick links:

• Know your Beaujolais crus
• James Lawther’s top 2013 cru Beaujolais reds

There’s a shake-up going on in Beaujolais that wine lovers should heed. The Beaujolais crus, in particular, are demonstrating that there’s more to the Gamay grape than just Nouveau. A series of successful vintages, including the exceptional 2009, are part of the reason but old vines, a unique terroir and a growing band of diligent and determined producers are also vital factors.

Trying to convince consumers that Beaujolais can be serious is not an easy task. Beaujolais Nouveau has held such a stranglehold on taste and communication since the 1970s that it’s difficult to believe the region produces anything other than this light, fruity and rather standardised libation. Indeed, at the height of its success in the late 1980s, Nouveau accounted for more than half of the region’s production. This has now been throttled back to about a third (30 million bottles in 2013) but continues to have an impact on perception.

So why get excited about what’s going on in the region? Well, on the grand scale, and mainly due to a downturn in demand, the total vineyard area has been reduced to 16,571 hectares (2013) from a high of 23,000ha in the late 1980s. Consequently, production has been curbed in an bid to assuage the crisis. Of most interest, though, is what’s happening in the 6,191ha that constitute the 10 Beaujolais crus.

These are located in the north of the region, just south of the Mâconnais, in a strikingly hilly terrain composed predominantly of granite and schist soils. Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, St-Amour and the others all have individual identities but their common factor is that they represent the quality end of Beaujolais. This has been somewhat hidden in the past by the influence of Nouveau, a lack of investment and, if truth be told, not enough decent winemaking. But things are changing.

On the political and administrative front, the crus have just quit (in December 2014) the body that promotes and manages all the appellations of the region. Under their own banner, the ODG, and led by their spirited president from Fleurie, Audrey Charton, they are taking their destiny in their own hands. ‘We want to have a stronger presence so we can raise the standard of wine throughout the region,’ she says. Locally, this is seen as a seismic decision and could have further ramifications.

Personality and terroir

Of more interest to consumers, though, is what’s different in the glass. What do you get that is above and beyond regular Beaujolais? Well, at their best, these are wines of real personality and character that speak of soil and climate. The grape may be Gamay, but the crus find some resonance with the wines of their Burgundian neighbours to the north and those from the northern Rhône some 70km south. A semi-continental climate and poor, granite-based soils (those in southern Beaujolais are richer and produce lighter wines) provide freshness and structure, the acidity and supple tannins contributing a linear precision and firmness ideally enjoyed with food. Alcohol levels are a reasonable 12.5% to 13%.

Aromatically, one can find minerality, for want of a better word, with often a hint of the pepper and spice associated with the northern Rhône. The fruit expression can be red or dark depending on the style of the vintage, the crus with their southerly and easterly hillside exposures ripening earlier than vineyards at the southern end of the region. In short the crus have a delicious smack of fruit but also the structure to age, some resembling a mature Pinot Noir with a few years in bottle.

Individual nuances found among the 10 crus is dependent on elevation, exposure and soil profile. Since 2009 a detailed study of the soils has been underway, the results now in the public domain. What has proved to be staggering is the diversity even over a short distance, but in essence the principal soil types are granite, a ‘blue stone’ slate and diorite mix, ancient alluvial stones and limestone. Each cru finds its personality via the mix of these elements, the growers now with a clearer idea of what each parcel contains.

The official density of planting for the crus is 6,000 vines/hectare, but in reality the top growers often work with 10,000 to 12,000 vines/hectare, pruned in the traditional, yield-curbing gobelet fashion. The other surprise is the age of the vines. I was amazed to learn the advanced age of many of the vineyards – parcels at Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes in Morgon range from 60 to 100 years, for instance, while Thibault Liger-Belair quoted 50 to 140 years at his eponymous domaine in Moulinà- Vent. Hand harvesting clearly remains de facto, although machines are now permitted.

Winemaker influence

As for winemaking, some points need clarification. These days the most contentious technique in Beaujolais is not carbonic maceration, where intact bunches of grapes undergo an intracellular fermentation over about a week in a sealed tank of carbon dioxide. Instead, the controversial process is thermovinification, where the grape must is heated to 60°C for 12 hours before being cooled rapidly over about four days. This extracts aroma and colour but leads to homogenisation and wines that are aromatic but dull and short on the palate.

Most growers in the Beaujolais crus abhor this technique, relying on one of two other methods instead. The majority practise a form of semicarbonic maceration, whereby whole bunches are placed in a tank and both normal and intracellular fermentation is allowed to take place. Extraction of aroma and colour is obtained by pumping the juice back over the macerated skins, punching down the skins, or racking the juice off and returning it to the tank, in a process lasting up to 15 days. The wines are then aged in a neutral tank or old casks for about a year.

The other winemaking process, which is referred to locally as the ‘Burgundian method’, is simply the classic method of fermenting destemmed and crushed grapes. Both techniques work the grape must to obtain structure and substance and take the wine beyond an aromatic burst of fruit.

The other implicit influence is that of vintage. Climate still has the final say in ripeness and style of wine and, in recent times, the choice for the consumer has boiled down to later- and earlierripening years. Recent Beaujolais vintages like 2009, 2011 and 2014 were all earlier ripening – 2009 atypically rich and opulent, 2011 concentrated and complex and 2014 looking to be full-bodied and food-friendly. These are the vintages with a modern feel. If you would prefer something along more classical lines, try the later-ripening 2010s and 2013s, which are fine, fresh and structured. Beware of 2012, which was compromised by rain.

Investment and change

I mentioned at the outset that investment had been lacking and winemaking could be improved, but here too there has been change. At a judicious level, domaines like Daniel Bouland and Louis-Claude Desvignes in Morgon have in recent years acquired pneumatic presses and this has clearly helped improve the textural quality of their wines. New names and a younger generation have also entered the frame with figures like Jean-Marc Burgaud in Morgon and Claude-Edouard Geoffray at Château Thivin demonstrating technical prowess.

On a grander scale there has also been change of ownership, with Burgundy, in particular, investing heavily in the crus. Thibault Liger-Belair from Nuits-St-Georges bought his first vines in 2008 and now has 11ha. ‘People thought I was mad at the time, but land values have since increased by 20% due to demand,’ he says. Other Burgundian growers present in the crus are Frédéric Lafarge of Volnay and Louis Boillot of Chambolle-Musigny.

Nor are the serious négociants absent. Jadot acquired Château des Jacques in 1996, but more recently the Henriot family of Bouchard Père et Fils bought Villa Ponciago (2008), Albert Bichot acquired Domaine de Rochegrès (2014) and Joseph Drouhin has just taken over the management of the Hospices de Belleville, which owns vineyards in Brouilly, Fleurie and Morgon.

Other investors from outside Burgundy have also acquired holdings, so clearly things are humming. Fleurie, Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent are leading the charge, so keep an eye out for these crus. Above all, remember that if you want authenticity, terroir and character then the Beaujolais crus really can deliver. It’s chalk and cheese compared to Nouveau.

James Lawther MW is a Decanter contributing editor, author, lecturer and tour guide.

Written by James Lawther MW

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From St-Amour in the north to Brouilly in the south, the 10 crus of Beaujolais suffered in the past from a lack of investment and poor winemaking, not to mention the glut of Nouveau. But things have changed, says James Lawther MW

Know your Beaujolais crus

James Lawther’s top 2013 cru Beaujolais reds

Juliénas(578ha) Mainly blue-stone soils. Deeply coloured wines with red fruits, minerality and freshness.

St-Amour (319ha) Diverse soils. Lively, light, fruity and floral wines. Chénas (249ha) A steep granite hill with alluvial slopes. Generous, darkfruited, structured wines.

Moulin-à-Vent (717ha) Pink granite slopes. Concentrated, complex, powerful with definite ageing potential.

Fleurie (914ha) 90% pink granite. Elegant, aromatic, floral, finely textured wines.

Chiroubles (334ha) Pink granite slopes of the highest altitude. Lively, fragrant, delicate wines.

Morgon (1,114ha) Granite and alluvial soils with seams of blue stone. Dense, structured, ageworthy wines with black cherry characters.

Regnié (368ha) Granite soils. Supple, fruity wines with a red fruit character.

Brouilly (1,257ha) Pink granite, ancient alluvial pebbles and limestone hillocks. Sound, generous, fruity wines.

Côte de Brouilly (340ha) Blue stone and shale on steep slopes. Dense wines with fine tannins, pepper and mineral notes; fine ageing potential.

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From St-Amour in the north to Brouilly in the south, the 10 crus of Beaujolais suffered in the past from a lack of investment and poor winemaking, not to mention the glut of Nouveau. But things have changed, says James Lawther MW

Lawther’s top 2013 cru Beaujolais reds

Blog: Who is drinking Beaujolais Nouveau?

Château Thivin, La Chapelle, Côte de Brouilly

17.5pts/20 (91/100pts)

Dense and racy with an affirmed structure. Spice and red fruit notes. Fine texture. Loads of freshness and length.

Price: £18-£20.50 (2011) Domaine Direct, Theatre of Wine

Drink 2016-2022

Alc 13%

Domaine Daniel Bouland, Vieilles Vignes, Morgon

17.5pts/20 (91/100pts)

Concentrated and intense. Complex dark fruit, pepper and liquorice notes. Firm but refined texture. Structured. Long, saline finish.

Price: £19.26 Seckford, Vine Trail

Drink 2015-2022

Alc 13%

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Vieilles Vignes, Moulin-à-Vent

17.5pts/20 (91/100pts)

Tight, dense and structured. Intense nose with morello cherry notes. Mineral palate and long, firm finish.

Price: £13.33 (ib) Flint Wines

Drink 2017-2024

Alc 13%

Domaine Chignard, Les Moriers, Fleurie

17pts/20 (90/100pts)

Elegant red fruit and lifted floral nose. Silky texture. Poised and complete. Delicious.

Price: £12.50-£16.50 AG Wines, Berry Bros & Rudd, The Wine Society

Drink 2015-2018

Alc 12.5%

Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes, La Voûte St-Vincent, Morgon

17pts/20 (90/100pts)

Floral-violet nose. Very much on the fruit but good intensity. Finely woven tannins. Pure and almost feminine for a Morgon. Good value.

Price: £13.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

Drink 2015-2017

Alc 13%

Jean-Marc Burgaud, Côte du Py, Morgon

17pts/20 (90/100pts)

Dark cherry notes with a hint of black pepper. Tight, firm and structured. Length and grip on the finish. Great value from the most famous slope in Morgon.

Price: £13.50-£16.50 Berry Bros & Rudd, The Wine Society

Drink 2015-2020

Alc 13%

Domaine Laurent Martray, Vieilles Vignes, Brouilly

16.5pts/20 (88/100pts)

Lovely depth of fruit. Eminently drinkable but should hold up for a few more years.

Price: £14.95 Lea & Sandeman

Drink 2015-2018

Alc 12.5%

Domaine Paul Janin et Fils, Les Vignes du Tremblay, Moulin-à-Vent

16.5pts/20 (88/100pts)

Subtle red fruit expression with a mineral character. Firm and structured in style. Well defined.

Price: £14.30 Christopher Piper, Domaine Direct

Drink 2015-2020

Alc 13%

Dominique Piron, Domaine de la Chanaise, Morgon

16.5pts/20 (88/100pts)

Red fruit and lifted floral aroma and flavour. Round and supple on attack then firm and structured on the finish.

Price: £13.99 Averys, Domaine Direct, Telegraph Wines

Drink 2015-2017

Alc 12.5%

Lucien Lardy, Les Roches, Fleurie

16.5pts/20 (88/100pts)

Firmer and more masculine in style than many Fleuries. Juicy red fruit with a strong tannic frame. Fresh finish.

Price: £10.95 The Imperial Wine Co

Drink 2015-2020

Alc 12.5%

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We can, I guess, all agree on this: there will never be enough good red Burgundy to keep the wine drinkers of the world happy.

Dolceacqua in Liguria. Image credit: Andrew Jefford

One solution is to plant more Pinot. Done: and the results (from California and Oregon, and from across the Southern Hemisphere) are encouraging. Another solution, though, is to find red wines which work in their own climate zones in the same kind of way as Pinot does in Burgundy. Gamay in Beaujolais is one incarnation of this; mountain Grenache in the Rhone outliers, in Spain’s Gredos and in South Australia’s high-country Clare Valley can be another; Nebbiolo in Lombardy’s Valtellina (where it’s called Chiavennasca) perhaps a third. Here’s a fourth.

Liguria’s mountain valleys are not easy vine-country, and vines are on the retreat here: Rossese di Dolceacqua had 2,000 ha of planted vines when the area acquired its DOC back in the early 1970s, yet only 85 ha or so remain today. Liguria’s landscape is one of deeply incised mountain valleys which plunge, north-south, directly into the sea. That means, of course, few south-facing slopes (for which you need transverse valleys); most vineyards, here, are east-facing. They are also tiny, and terraced; laborious work and high costs carry much of the blame for the plunge in production. Glittering greenhouses now jostle one another where the valleys reach the sea, whereas further inland former vineyards are now given over to mimosa (harvested for its flowers in spring) and olives (in profusion: not so much groves as forests in Liguria). But Rossese is quietly fighting back.

‘Rossese is a wine made by empty spaces,’ says the thoughtful Filippo Rondelli of Terre Bianche. He isn’t referring to the ghostly production of missing vineyards – but rather to the wine’s architecture in the mouth, which he describes as a cross between the ‘exuberance of the south crossed with the verticality of burgundy’. In contrast to the region’s Vermentino-based whites which are, he says, ‘without angles’, Rossese is ‘angles everywhere: a very strange fruit’. Another grower, Maurizio Anfosso of Ka Manciné, says that Rossese is ‘almost like an anchovy: its two main elements are acidity and saltiness.’ Rondelli points out that it is very terroir-sensitive and vintage-sensitive, too. ‘It can express everything.’ Terre Bianche has vineyards on flysch, blue marl and a conglomerate with red stones, and each soil type, Rondelli says, gives different results.

I was indeed reminded of red burgundy in tasting Rossese di Dolceacqua. Not, in truth, of a great Cote de Nuits, or of benchmark wines from a Grand Cru or a leading Premier Cru; but, yes, sometimes of good village wines, especially in the lighter Cote de Beaune style. These soprano reds bubble and sing with poised red fruits, especially cherry; they can be concentrated, long and penetrating; they often seem to have a saline edge to them, though (to my relief) nothing exactly resembled a liquid anchovy. Acidity does the structuring work here. In contrast to red Burgundy, though, there is little in the way of tannic grip, even in those wines (like the crus of Terre Bianche) which are still made with stems as well as grapes, as was traditional.

Producers whose wines are worth seeking out include Tenuta Anfosso, Gajaudo, Maccario Dringenberg, Vini Maixei, Ka Mancine, Danila Pisano, Rondelli and Terre Bianche itself; I also had a chance to taste a couple of older wines from local stalwart Nino Testalonga (2005, 1994 and 1973). The oldest wine of this trio had now expired, and the 2005 had reached a kind of elegiac peak which didn’t suggest a panoramic drinking window; but the 1994, from what must have been an outstanding vintage here, was still in fine, graceful, perfumed form.

Then came the final shock. I was short of research time before leaving, so once I’d thrown the clothes in the washing machine after getting home, I pulled out my trusty copy of Wine Grapes – and discovered that Rossese di Dolceacqua was none other than Tibouren: an old rose grape from Provence, and one that, moreover, seemed to be on the skids when I’d last nosed my way around Cotes de Provence (though Clos Cibonne makes a speciality of it and Ch Minuty still uses it). How was it possible that a relatively pale-skinned, inconsistently ripening rose variety along the coast of Provence could produce something so different just a couple of hundred kilometers away in Liguria’s mountain valleys?

Not for the first time, the reality of grapevine genetics seemed almost impossible to match up in the mouth. Unless, that is, the reality of terroir counts for even more than we think it does.

Written by Andrew Jefford

Michel Chapoutier, owner of numerous wine estates in the northern and southern Rhone, has acquired Beaujolais negociant La Maison Trenel.

Michel Chapoutier confirmed to Decanter.com that he has bought Trenel through his holding company MMC and not his main wine company M. Chapoutier SA, meaning that the Trénel wines will continue trading under their original names, without any mention of Chapoutier on the labels.

Financial details were not disclosed. Chapoutier is president of the Rhone region’s wine trade body, Inter-Rhone, and also has estates in Australia, Portugal and Alsace.

‘Beaujolais is a region in renaissance, with a new generation of dynamic winemakers, and we are very confident of being able to further develop this high quality négociant company,’ Chapoutier said.

Maison Trenel was founded by Claude-Henri Trenel in 1928 and is based in Charnay-les-Macon. It is run today by Gilles Melmoun and sells a range of Beaujolais crus, together with Macon wines.

The sale was completed on 30 March, 2015.

See also:

• Decanter travel guide: Beaujolais, France
• Beaujolais parties on, despite cash flow concerns

Written by Jane Anson

This year's Decanter Mediterranean Fine Wine Encounter in London on Saturday 7th March 2015 is set to showcase an incredible selection of wines from top producers across this exciting region, so read our guide to five must-visit wineries taking part in this unique wine tasting event.

1. Recaredo

Recaredo set up shop in 1924 and is a biodynamically-run estate; indeed it was the very first Cava producer to receive an official stamp of approval from the biodynamic certification body, Demeter.

It’s not only insecticides or pesticides that are shunned here; sugar doesn’t get a look-in either, for all of its releases are always Brut Nature and always Vintage.

Recaredo is clearly never in an undue rush to get the bottles to market, as the bare minimum ageing period for any of its releases is 30 months, but as you will see from some of the wines they will have on show this is far often exceeded; indeed it still has wines that have been maturing in its cellars for almost three decades.

This is a producer unequivocally dedicated to its craft and is therefore justifiably regarded as one of the very finest exponents of Cava. These are serious, high class wines, and their appearance at this event affords you the opportunity to sample top-drawer Cava; wines that are a world away from those that have done the name no favours in recent times.

2. Simčič

The vineyards of Simčič straddle the border between Italy and Slovenia in an area called the Brda hills. Famed for its mineral-rich sandstone and marl soil, this region also reaps the benefits of warm Mediterranean air on one side, and shelter from colder alpine influences on the other thanks to the Trnovoska Plateau; all three factors being recognised as far back as the Romans for being conducive to quality winemaking.

The farm was established in the latter half of the 19th century by Anton Simčič, who also built an inn and general store in the local village, plus a wine merchant in Vienna.

At the helm since 1988 has been Marjan Simčič who has overseen a transition towards more organic principles and the banishing of insecticides and chemical fertilisers.

For many, Simčič represents the apex of the Slovenian wine world, and it truly makes extraordinary wines full of personality and charm, as evidenced by the volume of awards it has been garlanded with around the world.

3. Chateau Ksara

With vineyards located in the heart of Lebanon, Ksara has over 150 years of winemaking knowhow under its belt, having been founded in the mid-19th Century by Jesuit monks who began to farm a 25ha patch of land, and who also lay claim to producing Lebanon’s first dry red wine.

It remained under the guidance of monks until the mid-1970s, when it was eventually relinquished as part of a push by the Vatican for any commercial assets to be sold off.

Over the course of history, Ksara has unsurprisingly witnessed significant periods of upheaval: French governance from 1920 until 1943; the devastating effects of the civil conflict which included the winery being occupied for a time by the Syrian army, and most recently the 2006 war with Israel which saw one of its neighbour’s tractors being obliterated in a missile strike having been mistakenly identified as being for military rather than agricultural use.

Despite such tumultuous events, Ksara has somehow never once failed to bring in a harvest and today undeniably stands as one of the country’s most respected and biggest producers, releasing almost three million bottles each year.

4. Golan Heights

Golan Heights was born in 1976 when its first vines went into the ground; however it waited a further eight years to release any wine at all, the debut being a 1983 Sauvignon Blanc.

It currently tends 28 vineyards which are divided into 400 separate blocks and extend over 600ha ranging between 400 and 1200m above sea level, growing some 21 different grape varieties including Gamay, Malbec and Riesling.

The man with his hand on the tiller is American Victor Schoenfeld. A native of California, his CV reveals stints at Robert Mondavi, Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma and the much-revered Champagne House, Jacquesson.

In 1992 he made the move to Israel and has been Head Winemaker at Golan Heights ever since, currently overseeing the production of several million bottles annually; moreover, he is universally recognised as being at the vanguard of the Israeli wine evolution.

5. Domaine Terra Vecchia

The island of Corsica is not generally regarded as a hotbed of French wine production, yet it is home to a clutch of fantastic estates who craft wonderfully characterful wines, something perfectly encapsulated by Domaine Terra Vecchia; one of the very finest.

Terra Vecchia, which means ‘old land’ in the local dialect, sits on red clay and granite soil, and the nearby marine pond called the Lake of Diana helps guard the vines from both the Mediterranean temperatures and the sea’s spray.

Terra Vecchia grows a range of varieties including Vermentino, Syrah and Nielluccio (also known as Sangiovese), and the resulting wines are distinctly engaging and idiosyncratic, making this producer an essential stop-over on your tour at the Decanter Mediterranean Fine Wine Encounter.

Tickets for the Mediterranean Encounter Grand Tasting, from 11am – 5pm, cost £45 each or £80 for two. For more information and to book tickets click here.

Written by Decanter

Beaujolais Nouveau may be derided as a gimmick by some wine lovers, but official figures in the Decanter graphic below show there is still plenty of consumer demand around the world.

Revellers gathered in the town of Beaujeu last Thursday night to celebrate the arrival of the first Beaujolais wine from the 2014 vintage.

Almost 10,000km to the east and several hours earlier, party-goers in Japan had done much the same thing. Some particularly enthusiastic consumers even jumped into wine baths to toast the new vintage at Japan’s Hakone Kowakien Yunessun resort, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Beaujolais Nouveau night – always the third Thursday in November – tends to divide opinion among wine drinkers.

It has lost some of its allure in certain countries, such as the UK, where the Inter Beaujolais wine trade council has focused more effort on communicating the region’s quality credentials via Beaujolais Villages and the 10 Beaujolais Crus.

It’s a strategy that shows signs of working, according to one of the UK’s biggest merchants, Bibendum. It said late last week that it sees stronger interest in Beaujolais, particularly among more affluent consumers, who have got over the ‘negative image’ created by the ‘Nouveau craze’ of the 1980s.

Yet, what’s clear from the infographic above is that Beaujolais Nouveau remains an important sales mechanism for many producers.

More than 13.3m bottles were exported in 2013, albeit down by around 9% versus 2012, according to figures published by Ubifrance and Inter Beaujolais. Japan alone received the equivalent of almost 8m bottles, while China could be one to watch. The country was only just behind the UK in 2013, shows the chart.

Written by Chris Mercer

Hear from our Burgundy & Beaujolais Regional Chair Jasper Morris MW on which wines to buy, which wines to leave on the shelf and what to keep an eye on from this year's Decanter World Wine Awards....

Burgundy can be a tricky category in wine competitions – the region is so fragmented that there’s little available of any given wine, so there’s less incentive to enter competitions when there is not the weight of a brand behind it. This shows particularly in the shortage of wines – especially reds – from the village, premier cru and grand cru appellations of the Côte d’Or. Yet we were very enthused by the overall quality right down to Commended. There were some great individual results in lowly categories such as Bourgogne Blanc, Beaujolais Villages and Hautes Côtes de Beaune, while the flights of Chablis were stunning.

What should we buy from here?

For the whites, the north and south of the region, Chablis and Mâcon, offer the best value and the greatest interest. Chablis certainly enjoyed considerable success in this year’s competition and it was a pleasure to taste so many wines that properly reflect the region, rather than just more international Chardonnay. Prices have risen sharply for red wines at all levels, but fortunately not so much for the lesser appellations. There’s some great generic Burgundy to be had including from the Hautes Côtes de Beaune and Nuits, which may have benefited from global warming. But if you want exciting, individual wine at a relatively affordable price (either side of the £15 mark) look to the crus of Beaujolais.

What should we leave on the shelf?

2011 is less compelling than the vintages on either side (though don’t ignore it from your favourite producers). Some of the wines seem lean and green now, though they should fatten up later. It’s a difficult time for Crémant de Bourgogne after successive short crops have slashed the supply available for sparkling wine programmes, increased the price and perhaps affected the style.

What should we keep an eye on?

Beaujolais and Mâconnais are enjoying a renaissance thanks to a new generation of growers who have escaped the mindset of the deflationary spiral of lower prices and rising costs. This trend is set to continue with some brilliant, fresh and imaginative wines from Beaujolais, and Côte d’Or challengers from the villages of the Mâconnais. In the background are the lesser reds and whites from the Yonne, from such appellations as Epineuil, Irancy, Côtes d’Auxerre and Bourgogne from Tonnerre or Vézelay. We didn’t have enough examples to form a compelling argument this year, but it’s surely an area to watch for attractive, affordable wines.

Written by Decanter

Beaujolais producers have distanced themselves from a local wine showing the controversial 'quenelle' sign on its label.

A wine named ‘Beaujolais Quenelle‘ and depicting a beret-wearing winemaker performing the sign was this week for sale online via a retailer named Sanguisterrae.

Some have associated the quenelle sign with antisemitism, likening it to an upside down Nazi salute with one arm down straight and the other placed across the chest. But, others argue it is merely anti-establishment.

Debate over its use has grown in recent months in both France and the UK, following high-level exposure that has included French footballer Nicolas Anelka performing the sign after scoring in the English Premier League.

Around 2,000 bottles of Beaujolais Quenelle were made by small-scale winemaker Jean-Paul Decourd, based in Chatillon, after he received an order from a private client.

When contacted by decanter.com, Decourd reiterated comments made to regional newspaper Le Progres that he ‘had no idea what the sign meant’ when the order was placed, in October last year.

The wine was this week on sale for €40.13 per six-bottle case, excluding tax, on the Sanguisterrae.fr website.

‘In our mind, it is a humorous way to entertain our customers and to show our dissatisfaction to the French rulling class,’ a spokesperson for Sanguisterrae told decanter.com.

The retailer’s owner is listed as a firm called ‘Culture Pour Tous‘. Official company records obtained from the French authorities show that the firm is registered to the same address in St Denis, Paris, as the secretariat of a political group named Egalite & Reconciliation.

That group, which also links to Sanguisterrae on its website, describes itself as in favour of national unity, with leftwing, working class sympathies and rightwing values. However, several political commentators say the group has links to France’s far right.

Trade body Inter Beaujolais has contacted winemaker Decourd and is keen to distance the wine region from the debate. ‘This is a storm in a teacup,’ its managing director, Jean Bourjade, told decanter.com.

‘I feel sorry for the grower, who did not know what the label was all about. It’s an isolated incident and a small production. We don’t want the Beaujolais region to be associated with this.’

The French comedian who claims to have invented the quenelle sign, Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, was this week banned from entering the UK.

Written by Chris Mercer

Three major Beaujolais producers have created a joint investment company to buy vineyards in Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages to guard against the 'worrying loss of vines in the region'.

BCD Développement is a joint project by Boisset Family Wines, Les Vins Georges Duboeuf and Le Cellier de Saint Etienne cooperative.

‘The surface area of vines in Beaujolais (pictured) and Beaujolais villages has dropped by 38% over the past 10 years,’ Grégory Large, president of the newly-formed BCD Développement, told decanter.com.

‘This is a worrying loss of vines caused by a combination of urban sprawl from the city of Lyon and a decade of economic difficulties for local winemakers’.

The stated aim of the new investment company is to ‘ensure the long-term future of the 240 producers of the cooperative cellar’. It will operate by buying up vineyards, mainly from producers who are looking to retire and can not currently find buyers.

Purchased vineyards will be under contract to Le Cellier de Saint Etienne, with minimum price and quantity contracts for the grapes guaranteed for five years from négociants Boisset and Duboeuf. Le Cellier de Saint Etienne currently buys grapes from 415ha of vines.

‘The average age of winemakers in the region is 55, and many of them expect to pull up their vines if they can not find buyers,’ said Large. ‘The hope is that with this new company, we can encourage young winemakers to rent vineyards with a guarantee of future income.

‘The quality and reputation of Beaujolais wines has begun to see real recognition both in France and export markets, and we hope that by offering security to new entrants, we can build on this.’

The deal might raise concerns among some in the region about the extent of consolidation. However, Anne-Victoire Monrozier, an independent Beaujolais producer who bottles under the brand Miss Vicky Wine, said the deal is potentially of benefit to other small producers.

‘The most important is that negociants make a good wine at a fair price to push the region’s notoriety up. It’s through them that most consumers get to know Beaujolais.’

Dubouef and Boisset are not investors directly in the cooperative cellar, but are shareholders in the property company.

Written by Jane Anson