Secret Beaujolais: Our expert guide to must-visit wineries and restaurants
Now with a wealth of stylish hotel and restaurant offerings to match the glorious Gamays of its celebrated crus, this region to the south of Burgundy is the perfect, off-radar wine destination.
Midway between Burgundy’s Côte d’Or and Côte-Rôtie in the northern Rhône, and close to the major city of Lyon, you’d think that Beaujolais would be one of the most visited wine regions in France: a vital pitstop on anyone’s vinous pilgrimage.
Instead, wine tourism in Beaujolais is, to say the least, underdeveloped. Despite the willingness of many of the region’s best domaines to fling their doors open wide and welcome visitors, tasting rooms remain relatively quiet.
Having spent substantial periods in Beaujolais researching my recently published book, The Wines of Beaujolais, I have to say that I think you’re all missing a trick. Leaving aside the warm welcome extended by producers in Beaujolais, there are plenty of other reasons to tempt wine lovers to visit the area.
To begin with, there’s the sheer natural beauty of the vineyards. The location of Beaujolais, lying between the Massif Central on its western side and the Alps over to the east, has given rise to an undulating landscape that affords new views every time you turn a corner.
Perching on slopes or nestling in valleys, small villages are built out of local stone – pink granite and blue diorite in the crus in the region’s northern section, and orange-tinged limestone in the south.
In addition to aesthetic pleasures, you’ll find hedonistic ones, too. The region’s wines are on the up: quality is high and the range of styles made from Gamay, the hallmark Beaujolais grape, is surprisingly diverse. Even so, prices remain resolutely affordable.
Good wine goes hand in hand with great gastronomy, of course, and the restaurant scene in Beaujolais has recently rediscovered its mojo.
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Visitors can look forward to tucking into Michelin-starred meals, as well as hearty country cuisine. All of this bounty is packed into a tiny region that measures just over 70km in length, and – at most – 20km from east to west.
Most of the visitable wineries are located in the crus and it’s rare to have to drive more than 15 minutes from one tasting to the next. Some wineries are even within easy walking distance of each other.
The 10 Beaujolais crus
Some better known than others, there are 10 individual, named appellations in the Beaujolais region where the highest-quality wines are produced. Running in a roughly contiguous line north to south, between the villages of Chânes and St-Etienne-la-Varenne, they are:
St-Amour | Juliénas | Chénas | Moulin-à-Vent | Fleurie | Chiroubles | Morgon | Régnié | Brouilly | Côte de Brouilly
Jump to: Beaujolais map | Where to eat and drink | Wineries to visit
Where to stay in Beaujolais
One of the key reasons that Beaujolais has remained off most travellers’ radars is perhaps that, until recently, high-quality accommodation was in fairly short supply.
The region has gîtes, but most are targeted at large groups celebrating weddings or family reunions, with the emphasis placed on modest pricing rather than modern comforts. But there’s a new(ish) generation of boutique hotels and chambres d’hôtes opening that cater to a more discriminating clientele.
The Auberge de Clochemerle, named after a popular comic novel that celebrates life in a small French village, is one of the region’s more established hotels. Situated in the southern reaches of the Beaujolais Villages zone, a little southwest of St-Etienne-la-Varenne, it makes a great base from which to explore both the crus and the southern Beaujolais AP region.
If your focus is largely on exploring the crus, you may be best off based at Auberge du Paradis, situated at the northern tip of Beaujolais in the pretty village of St-Amour-Bellevue, just over the border from the Mâconnais in southern Burgundy.
It’s slightly more modern in decor than Clochemerle, but equally old-fashioned when it comes to extending a warm welcome to guests, and the sumptuous breakfast certainly gets a day’s tasting off to a good start.
If you want to be further south, though, you might want to book a night or two at the Maison de Pagneux, one of the new breed of luxury chambres d’hôtes springing up in the region.
This splendid stone-built house is situated on the outskirts of the village of Lachassagne, whose ochre-hued pierre dorée limestone buildings are characteristic of southern Beaujolais. The house boasts three well-appointed guest bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom. The young couple who run this B&B are both talented cooks, so the table d’hôte (a seasonally changing set menu) comes highly recommended.
A final option for anyone planning a longer stay is to rent a gîte. Steer clear of the old-school, party-focused accommodation and book one of the five self-catering suites at La Maison du Village in Romanèche-Thorins.
The comfortable apartments are housed in a building above the wine bar La Mine, and although the village itself lacks much in the way of nightlife, it makes a good central base from which to explore Beaujolais’ charms.
Getting around Beaujolais
It’s worth noting that, wherever you choose to stay, nothing is very far away in Beaujolais. The driving time from the Auberge du Paradis, which overlooks some of the region’s most northerly vineyards, to the Maison de Pagneux in the far south is around 40 minutes – and from there it’s only another 40 minutes’ drive to the heart of Lyon, France’s third-most populous city.
Where to eat and drink in Beaujolais
When it comes to finding great places to eat and drink in Beaujolais, gourmands and gourmets alike are spoiled for choice.
Maison du Cru
If you just fancy a glass of Chiroubles and a bird’s-eye view, stop off at the appellation’s high-altitude Maison du Cru, whose terrace perched at 740m affords spectacular panoramas of vineyards and wooded hillsides, and whose wine shop offers a range of some of the cru’s best bottlings.
XVIII sur Vins
You get less of a view at XVIII sur Vins (Instagram: @xviii_sur_vins), a wine bar in Belleville-en-Beaujolais, but you do get a broader selection of wines to drink sur place or to take away, along with good-sized portions of charcuterie, cheese and salads.
Epicerie Saint-Etienne des Oullières
The equally informal Epicerie Saint-Etienne des Oullières (Instagram: @epiceriedubojo) is a small village shop on the main drag in St-Etienne-des-Oullières that sells groceries and locally produced wines, and doubles up as a bistro at lunchtime and on Friday evenings. The menu changes with the seasons and there’s always something on offer for vegetarians (not always the case in rural France).
La Mine
La Mine, a lively wine bar, is located on the ground floor beneath Romanèche-Thorin’s Maison du Village gîte. It’s only open Thursdays to Saturdays, but is always buzzing, with plenty to do thanks to an evolving program of live music, tutored tastings and other activities.
Auberge du Paradis
The Auberge du Paradis in St-Amour-Bellevue has two restaurants. The fancier one, Lucienne Fait des Siennes (named in honour of the chef’s dog), has to be one of the world’s most idiosyncratically named establishments. I favour the more relaxed Joséphine à Table, the Platonic ideal of a French village bistro, complete with a stunning – and copious – dish of poulet au vin jaune with morels, my regular order.
Les Moblots
The wine list is particularly notable – and great value, too. I’m also extremely fond of Les Moblots in St-Julien, northwest of Villefranche-sur-Saône, a bustling village bistro that serves as a canteen to many of the winemakers based nearby. A strong wine list complements a short menu of light, modern takes on classic French cuisine.
Café Terroir Chez Saint-Cyr
Further south, the Café Terroir Chez Saint-Cyr just west of Anse is, as the name suggests, based at the Saint-Cyr winery. It’s the perfect place to take a break from a day’s tasting and enjoy a light lunch with a view out over the vineyards, accompanied by one of the bottles produced at the winery or by one of Raphaël Saint-Cyr’s many friends.
Beurre Noisette
Staying in the southern part of Beaujolais, Beurre Noisette in Lucenay offers a refined, creative, veggie-friendly menu and an interesting, varied wine list sourced from many of the region’s best producers, as well as from further afield.
Ema
You’ll find similarly smart restaurants further north in Beaujolais, of course. Ema is perched high on a hillside that faces west, towards the forested slopes of the Beaujolais Vert. The restaurant’s terrace is the ideal spot for a long, lazy summer lunch chosen from a short but precise, carefully plated menu and an extensive wine list.
Auberge de Clochemerle
Beaujolais has two Michelin-starred restaurants. The one housed on the ground floor of the Auberge de Clochemerle recently regained its star thanks to the understated elegance of its food.
The basic ‘M’ menu looks as if it only offers three courses. Don’t be fooled. The parade of pre-prandial snacks and a generous procession of petit fours means you should count on eating far more than you might imagine. The wine list is compendious, as is the norm at this level of service.
Auberge du Cep
There’s an equally weighty wine list at Fleurie’s Auberge du Cep, which offers a combination of classic French cuisine, and the best of regional and seasonal ingredients.
You can splash out on a nine-course menu (10 if you’re really hungry and tuck into an additional slice of the Auberge’s signature pâté en croute), but canny guests opt for the lunchtime menu du marché, which offers two courses for €35 or three for €40.
Wineries to visit in Beaujolais: 14 of the best
If you’ve come to stay in Beaujolais, you’re here for the wine, right? Many of the region’s best producers are happy to welcome visitors, although almost all of them prefer you to make an appointment beforehand rather than just pitching up on spec.
In many cases, the small scale of the operation means that you may well find yourself tasting in the company of the person who grows the grapes and makes the wines.
Château du Moulin-à-Vent
The Château du Moulin-à-Vent, just along the road from the famous windmill itself, is among the cru’s foremost producers. The single-vineyard wines are benchmark examples.
Domaine Richard Rottiers
Based in the same appellation, Domaine Richard Rottiers offers an informal tasting of Rottiers’ elegant cuvées.
Domaine David-Beaupère
The tasting room at Domaine David-Beaupère overlooks the steep vineyards of Juliénas, giving visitors a greater appreciation of the amount of hard work that goes into the creation of the domaine’s dense, dark wines.
Domaine de la Madone
Perched on a hillside beneath Fleurie’s famous landmark chapel, Domaine de la Madone offers one of the slickest visitor tasting experiences in the region. Tour the vineyards and winery, discover the secrets of winemaking and learn about Fleurie’s prized terroir, concluding with a guided tasting of the domaine’s wines.
Domaine de la Grosse Pierre
At Domaine de la Grosse Pierre in Chiroubles, Pauline Passot crafts some of the cru’s most refined, elegant cuvées.
Domaine Mee Godard
Many of Morgon’s most prestigious producers aren’t open to visitors, but Mee Godard makes some of the cru’s most exciting wines and is happy to host tastings by appointment.
Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly
There’s an abundance of choice for anyone wanting to visit producers in Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly, from the opulently renovated Château de la Chaize to the quietly classic Château Thivin and the up-and-coming Domaine les Roches Bleues.
Beaujolais Village
The Beaujolais Village appellation, which is widely scattered around the periphery of the zone occupied by the 10 crus, is increasingly the source of some of the region’s most exciting winemaking.
Find out why with a visit to Frédéric Berne in Lantignié or, a little further south, Domaine les Garçons in Charentay or Domaine de Mont Joly near Blacé.
Southern Beaujolais
Much of southern Beaujolais, the main zone for AP Beaujolais, is dedicated to the production of grapes destined for négociant wines and for Crémant de Bourgogne (about 60% of the grapes for this fizz are actually grown in Beaujolais, local producers are keen to point out) – but there are a handful of producers in the area who make characterful, idiosyncratic wines.
Just southwest of Blacé, Célia & David Large definitely – and defiantly – walk on the wild side, with many of their cuvées classified as Vin de France rather than AP Beaujolais or Beaujolais Villages.
The wines of Domaine Saint-Cyr, just to the west of Anse, are perhaps more classic, but that doesn’t make them any less thrilling.
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Natasha Hughes MW began her career in the wine trade as deputy editor of Decanter.com. She left the magazine in 2001 and has since enjoyed a thriving freelance career as a writer and consultant. Writing about wine and food, Hughes has contributed to specialist publications across the world, and has acted as a consultant to private clients, wineries and restaurants. In addition, she hosts wine seminars and tastings, and has judged globally at wine competitions. Hughes graduated as a Master of Wine in 2014, winning four out of the seven available prizes at graduation, including the Outstanding Achievement Award.