THE WINE GUY OLIVIER J. BOURGOIN
Greetings from Wine Central. Here’s hoping everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebrations. Last week I wrote about a wine from Bordeaux. Did anyone try it?
If you did, you can let me know your thoughts at: Olivierthewineguy@ gmail.com. Today, let’s focus our attention on another French wine-producing region: Beaujolais.
Beaujolais is actually a subregion located just north of the city of Lyon and geographically situated in the southern sector of another famous wine-producing region, Burgundy.
Burgundy is world renowned for its exquisite Pinot noir. The grapes used to make Beaujolais wines, however, are called Gamay. Other than Pinot noir, Gamay is the only red grape variety that is grown (and that is allowed to be grown) in Burgundy.
There are three different styles of Beaujolais wines. The “entry level” one is Beaujolais Nouveau. This wine is released on the same day everywhere in the world -- at the same time, on the third Thursday in November.
Nouveau means “new” and Beaujolais Nouveau is made with the fresh new juice from the most recently completed harvest. It is allowed to ferment only for a few short weeks before being released.
According to French law, all grapes in the Beaujolais AOC must be harvested by hand, before they are dumped into very large vats capable of containing upward of 20,000 gallons each.
The vats are then filled with carbon dioxide. This process allows the grapes to be crushed naturally, under their own weight and while being deprived of oxygen -- resulting in wines that are low in tannins and on the fruitier side of the taste spectrum (fruity but not sweet).
There are more than 4,000 vineyards that produce Gamay in the Beaujolais and while some of the wines resulting from this process can be delightful, not all of them are.
A step up from Beaujolais Nouveau is Beaujolais Village, which is produced from vineyards from 38 different villages in the Northern Beaujolais.
Unlike Nouveau, which is meant to be consumed within a few months of its release, Village is considered to be of better quality than Nouveau and the best of them can be kept for up to four or five years.
Finally, there are what many consider to be the cream of the Beaujolais crop. “Cru” Beaujolais, of which there are 10, are all referred to by the name of their specific village of origin instead of being called Beaujolais, even though they also come from that region and are also made from Gamay grapes.
These are wines with more substance that can be cellared for many more years than their brethren; even up to 50 years in some cases.
The 10 Beaujolais Crus are: Fleurie, Morgon, Chiroubles, Moulin à Vent, Juliénas, Chénas, St. Amour, Régnié, Brouilly and Côtes de Brouilly. Although they do cost a bit more than their counterparts, they are also much more enjoyable.
Happy Holidays and cheers!
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