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Beaujolais
 The Beaujolais
region produces a small ocean of wine.
Most Beaujolais is red. Damned near all of it, in fact. Something like 99% of
the wine produced in this region, south of Burgundy and Macon, north of the Rhone, is made
from Gamay Noir. There is a tiny amount of white wine made here, typically of
Chardonnay.
The name Beaujolais derives from the house of Beaujeu, a name which appears in
the mid-900s. The region, in addition to vineyards, gained fame in the 19th century
as a commercial center of the textile industry. But it's the silky wines we are
concerned with here.
The vinification is a technique called "Carbonic Maceration." The region
has insisted on hand-harvested fruit, but will, for the first time, allow mechanical
picking with the 2000 harvest. The idea is to keep the fruit intact as much as
possible. The grapes are then put into the fermentation tanks "whole" and
un-crushed. Of course, the fruit at the bottom of a thousand-gallon tank will be
crushed, but this, at the beginning, comprises something like 30% of the tank. In
the middle and top are mostly whole clusters. The fermentation takes place and in so
doing, the grapes pop (the fermentation creates alcohol and CO2). For
Nouveau wines, the time "on the grape skins" is something like three or four
days. For more "serious" Beaujolais wines, this maceration period may
extend for little more than a week.
 The
most basic, modest-quality wine is called simply "Beaujolais." This can
come from any of the 23,000 acres which carpet the area. Typically, simple
"Beaujolais" comes from vineyards outside the 10 "crus" (top villages
where the wine takes merely the name of the village) or the other 39 "villages"
which can be bottled as "Beaujolais-Villages" or be labeled Beaujolais-and the
name of the specific village. From there, the top Beaujolais wines are sold by the
name of their "cru" of which there used to be just nine. After a ten year
period of "research," a tenth "cru" was elevated and anointed.
That would be Rgni.
 Beaujolais
Nouveau is a particular type of Beaujolais with a short history. These
wines, it seems, used to be sold simply as "Beaujolais Primeur." Alexis
Lichine wrote that in his first book on French wines, these did not merit even a
mention. "It was a young, fruity wine sold
in barrels and served in carafes in restaurants in Lyon and in specialized bistros in
Paris--strictly the cheap places. In the early 1950s, this vin nouveau
never saw the inside of a bottle or traveled overseas. But at about that same time,
by the strange workings of reverse snobbery, the news spread that it was chic to drink
this newly born wine."
Years ago this wine was offered for sale on November 15th, but a decade or so ago they
changed the release date to the "third Thursday in November." This usually
allows some extra days, not that the wine needs "aging."
Beaujolais Nouveau has experienced a few ups and downs. It seemed like it was more
popular about five years ago. We have purchased but a few of them and can't say
they're much to our taste. Beaujolais-Nouveau costs less, typically, than
"Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau." The world will really have gone to hell
when you see "cru" Beaujolais making "nouveaux." They don't, at
this time.
My famous line is "Asking how the Beaujolais Nouveau are this
year is like asking how the Pepsi is this week."
One of the funniest incidents I can recall is a French woman arriving a day or two after
the arrival of the Nouveaux wines. This was in 1998. "Where are the
Nouveaux, Gerald?" she inquired.
I pointed to the displays and she picked up a few bottles, looked at them and saw the
vintage.
"You have only the 1998?" she asked!
Beaujolais is the next level of "quality." It can
range all over the map, from pretty good to less-than-stellar. In the past 20 years
they've planted many sites which weren't planted because the quality would be marginal.
Of course, in the hands of a capable grower, you might find some drinkable wine.
In the hands of knuckleheads, bonne chance! These wines, typically,
require but a very modest sugar level at harvest-time. Growers can over-crop and
then try to rectify their "mistakes" by adding sugar to the juice.
Beaujolais-Villages is a higher designation, not only because the
vineyard sites have historically produced higher quality fruit, but the potential alcohol
content (related to the sugar content) at harvest must be a bit higher. The mere
factor of riper fruit isn't a guarantee of quality, but it ain't a bad idea, either.
This appellation accounts for 25% of the wine produced in Beaujolais. Recent
stats show about one-third is sold as "nouveau."
"Cru Beaujolais" are the wines from the ten best zones
in Beaujolais. The funny little map at the top of this page shows some blue, teal,
orange and green-hued areas. These are where the top "names" of Beaujolais
come from.
Curiously, these wines often are over-looked by consumers searching for Beaujolais.
That's because the name of the "cru" is the only appellation to be found on the
bottle. The word or "category" of Beaujolais is not mentioned!
So, for example, someone wanting a top bottle from Beaujolais will overlook a wine labeled
"Moulin-A-Vent" because it doesn't have the word "Beaujolais" anywhere
on the bottle!
Though these can be bottled as early as December following the harvest, most quality
producers do not bottle these until, at least, after Easter. Some stay in large,
rather neutral wood vats for an extended period of time.
"LE TOP TEN":
BROUILLY & CÔTE de BROUILLY are the southernmost crus of the
"heavy hitters." Just to the west of Belleville (north of Villefranche),
Brouilly encompasses some 3,000 acres, while the Côte de Brouilly covers some 700.
Brouilly is more sandy soil with some granite, with the Côte de Brouilly is predominantly
granite. Up on the hill of the Mont de Brouilly you can kneel down and pray at Notre
Dame du Raisin (Our Lady of The Grape == here at Weimax, Ellen is "our lady of the
grape"). Every year in early September there's a service to pray for the coming
harvest.
SAINT AMOUR is the northernmost cru of the Beaujolais region and the
perfect Valentine's Day accompaniment. It's a 680 acre appellation with
granite, sand and clay. Some say there's a violety, almost floral note to
the fragrance of good Saint Amour wines. Some people claim you can
find a note of apricot fruit in these wines.
CHÈNAS is the smallest cru and is located adjacent to Moulin--Vent.
Confusingly, the commune of Chnas lies within the area of Moulin--Vent!
The wines with the Chènas appellation come from some 650 acres of vines on granitic
soil. The wines are often a bit astringent right after bottling, but don't seem to
last quite as long as Moulin--Vent.
CHIROUBLES is just south of Fleurie and north of Morgon. These tend
to be the most delicate and short-lived of the "Top Ten." The area covers
some 850 acres and is the highest in elevation at about 400 meters. The soil is
granite and porphyry. There's a monument of note in the town square at Chiroubles
honoring one Victor Pulliat. During the phylloxera plague in the 1800s, he was the
first to graft the French vines onto disease-resistant American roots. For that he
is deserving of a toast, especially with a glass of Chiroubles!
FLEURIE is said, by some, to be the main rival, quality-wise, to
Moulin-A-Vent. This appellation is located south of Moulin-A-Vent and covers some
2,000 acres. Granite soil. Its wines are described as smelling of flowers,
hence the name Fleurie. They tend to be a bit lighter and less tannic than the famed
Moulin-A-Vent.
JULIÉNAS is north of Chènas and takes its name from Julius Caesar.
You'll find 1450 acres of vines here on soil that's schist, clay and granite.
These usually are at their best within a year or two of the vintage, but it depends
of the particular producer and the harvest.
MORGON is north of Brouilly and its wines seem to vary from light and
fruity to more deep and serious. The soil is a crumbly slate which the locals call roche
pourrie (rotten rock).
MOULIN-A-VENT is the most prestigious Beaujolais cru. The name
comes from an old windmill,  somewhat of a symbol for Beaujolais in general and this cru in
particular. These tend to be a bit fuller in body and sometimes have more
astringency than other Beaujolais wines. The wines are said to be more
"Burgundian" in style and with age, this is sometimes true. Some 1,600
acres comprise Moulin--Vent. The soil is granite with manganese (I tell you this
in case there's a quiz or you're asked this by Regis Philbin on "Who The Hell Is
Smart Enough to Be A Millionaire?").
REGNIE rounds out the Top Ten List. It's the newcomer, being
elevated in 1988 after something like a ten year study. The region is west of Morgon
and east of Beaujeu. Its wines can be quite good...less full than a
Moulin-a-Vent or Morgon, but sturdier than a Brouilly, for example. We've
had a top example from winemaker Jacky Gauthier...his seem to be routinely top
class.
SOME BEAUJOLAIS WINES
WE LIKE:
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DOMAINE DE COLETTE
 Years
ago I was visiting Beaujolais and we had a stop in the village of Lantignie
as there was a really good Beaujolais being imported by a local firm.
This was in the days before Georges DuBoeuf was such a dynamo and we were
treated to a taste of some older vintages...remarkable to see this usually
frivolous wine could be cellared in some vintages with good results.
About 20 years later I'm visiting the region again in search of the Domaine
de Colette estate since we've been enjoying a couple of Beaujolais wines
from this property. We're driving around the hill towns of Beaujolais
and seeing the names of the top "cru" appellations and then,
finally, we're at our destination. It's right across the street from
the place I'd been in the early 1980s!
The town is within the appellation of Régnié, a site highly-regarded by
Beaujolais merchants, despite the fact that it was not included in the
original classification of "crus" back in 1935. At that
time, nine villages were tabbed as "cru" wines, allowed to label
their production not as mere Beaujolais-Villages, but with the name of the
specific 'village' on the bottle. It took a number of years for these
'seeds' to bear some fruit, but after the hot 1947 harvest, people started
to pay a bit of attention to these precise appellation wines.
Régnié remained under-the-radar, though negociant firms such as
DuBoeuf's routinely paid a modest premium for wines from this locale.
In 1988 the Régnié appellation took its place alongside its more
famous neighbors as one of the top sites in Beaujolais.
The Regnie cru in Beaujolais is predominantly sand and granite, though a small
percentage of the region is clay soil. Though this winery is
relatively new to
us, they have rather old vineyards. The youngest are 50 years old,
ranging up to 80 years of age!
Jacky Gauthier and his wife Evelyne owns this small estate. I recall
teasing them, some years ago, about Evelyne's father calling the winery and
wondering why Jacky named the place after Colette. "Shouldn't it
be called Domaine de Evelyne?" I asked. They explained the name
Colette refers to the hilly vineyards, not some former girlfriend.
"But does Evelyne's dad call every so often just to hear if you're
answering the phone 'Domaine de Evelyne' or if the place is still called
'Colette'?"
They think I'm "one bottle shy of a full case," I'm certain!
Monsieur Gauthier is proud of their
hand-harvesting of the vineyards (mechanical harvesting has yet to be
approved for Beaujolais, though I'm not sure you could pick by machine in
these hilly vineyards). This is noted on the label.
This 2007 vintage of Regnie is
delicious! Lots of strawberry and sweet cherry notes are evident on
the nose and palate. The wine is best served lightly chilled.
Bob opened his first bottle the other night and said "I haven't had a
Beaujolais like that since I was in Paris!" Airfare to Paris
costs considerably more than the fifteen-bucks you need for a bottle of Domaine
de Colette. It's dangerously drinkable.
We also have their regular bottling of Beaujolais-Villages...just a shade
lighter, but still fantastically fruity and delicious!
A recent addition to the portfolio is a Morgon. We included an earlier
vintage in a
blind-tasting in January of 2007 and I had this highly-rated. There's
a slight 'bite' to the wine which is smoothed out when it's paired with
food. Very fine now and it will develop well over the next year or
two. Classic, in fact.
- Currently in stock: 2007 Régnié $14.99
2007 Beaujolais-Villages $11.99
2006 MORGON $15.99
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Jacky Gauthier with his wife Evelyne and Pierre-Alexandre and his big
sister, Amandine in 2006.
Here's a nice photo of the kids a few years ago...Mom and Dad had won a
prize for the Beaujolais that year and here's little Pierre pouring wine
for young Amandine.
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DOMINIQUE PIRON
 Most of this fellow's vineyards are in the Morgon appellation, but he also has a small ngoce
biz, too. Dominique Piron contracts for fruit in neighboring
vineyards, taking care of vineyards that are owned by people who work in
other professions and who have little interest in the farming side of
vineyard ownership.
 Of his own
vines, Piron has some 18 hectares, located in the Morgon (cru) appellation
and in Beaujolais-Villages. But he also takes care of something like
57 hectares for a number of other people.
He then vinifies the juice from these various parcels, augmenting
his supply of domaine-bottled Morgon. His Morgon, by the way, is very good. We
have featured his "simple" Beaujolais-Villages, Les Vignes de
Pierreux, as it's called.
Assisting in the enterprise are
"Magnum" and "Bacchus." Those are Piron's dogs.
 Morgon
is offered in a couple of bottlings, though Piron explains there are
actually six "climats" within the appellation. The "Côte
du Py" is the particular hillside that is favored with its own
designation. Piron, I believe, has a 'simple' Morgon and then his
special bottling of Cte du Py. We tasted a 1996 and a 1988 vintage
of these when visiting the winery in early 2002. They seem to age
quite handsomely, though I'll bet few customers in the U.S. buy these with
the intention of cellaring the wines. The 1988, for example, displayed
aromas and a bouquet more typical of a Pinot Noir with some bottle
age.
The last vintage of Nouveau Beaujolais was delicious! Deep in color, this is redolent of
strawberries and ripe, sweet cherries. It was a chillable red (as it should be),
smooth and dry. We're waiting for the 2006.
In the realm of more "important" and fine wine is a special
bottling of wine from the Chènas appellation. It's called Quartz and
is sold by Piron and one of his buddies, Jean Marc Lafont who's a winemaker
in Brouilly.
Piron used to date one of the daughters at Domaine Robin in Chènas.
The family also ran a little restaurant as well as making their own
wines. The father died some years ago and Piron knew they needed to
sell the vineyard, but he didn't have the means to buy it outright.
So, he's got a partner (Jean Marc Lafont of Brouilly) who splits the
production of this exceptional Beaujolais.
 The
vineyard is one large parcel of 35+ year old vines. The vineyard is
just east of Moulin Vent and is at a rather high elevation. The
soil there is granite-based clay with bands of quartz, hence the name of
this most particular wine.
The 2003 vintage was their first effort. Lafont and Piron work together
on the project, having one employee. They each sell it through their
own cellars, which is remarkable.
But the wine is even more remarkable. The purity of fruit is
striking. Some of this may be due to the vintage, too, of
course. The 2005 harvest, is the current release. The wine is
medium garnet in color and it's teeming with red fruit fragrances. There's a
touch of spice and a hint of minerality here, but the fruity, strawberry notes of Gamay are
nearly blinding to the stony notes lurking underneath. While the
wine may not be as complex as a grand cru Burgundy, for example, it is still
a wonderful and satisfying glass of wine. And you can drink something
of "importance" without breaking the bank. We like it better
than many Moulin Vent wines we've tasted. Piron says this wine can
be cellared, easily, for 4 or 5 years to allow it to acquire secondary
aromas. We like it now, but if you want to bring us a bottle to
drink in a few years, that would be fine, too!
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- Currently in stock:
2005 Piron & Lafont "CHÈNAS "Quartz" $17.99
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RAYMOND BOULAND
 Morgon can
be one of the most interesting of Beaujolais wines. There are
numerous "Boulands" in the Beaujolais region. This
fellow's brother, Daniel, is probably the most famous, but Raymond's wine
is exceptional and arrives here with much less fanfare and a more
reasonable price.
This part of the family takes care of eight hectares of vineyards, most of them lying
within the Morgon appellation.
I think the 2008 is our sixth vintage from this little estate.
It's exceptional for both its quality and reasonable price. Lots of
strawberry notes and it's fairly deep on the palate.
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Currently in stock: 2008 Bouland Morgon $14.99
KING GEORGES This guy is
the King of Beaujolais for a reason. He sells something like thirty or so percent of
the entire production from the region! He has a large winemaking facility, but also
buys finished wine. They have a number of single domaine wines, as well. I
read recently that King Georges sells something like 30-million bottles of Beaujolais
annually!
DuBoeuf is criticized by some for manipulating the wines too much. Some say DuBoeuf
tailors the wines to the market. If a market prefers a wine of deeper color, DuBoeuf
will oblige, for example. I don't know if this true, but the wines are
big fruit bombs, typically.-
- A few years ago the firm had some bad publicity when the fraud squad visited
Duboeuf's winery and found some vats were not what they were supposed to
be. Apparently some slacker of a cellar rat has blended some inferior
Beaujolais into some tanks containing "cru" Beaujolais.
Duboeuf explained that none of these wines actually were bottled, much less
sold, so "no worries."
More recently they were fined again by the government, this time for
"enhancing" some batches of wine. I'd read one account
claiming DuBoeuf's production manager was ameliorating some lesser
appellations of wine with better quality blending material. This
would, perhaps, make Duboeuf's wine more intense or deeper than the same
appellation wines from his competitors. The firm was fined again,
though the Beaujolais growers' association has publicly defended
Duboeuf.
We had one of their cru Beaujolais wines in a blind-tasting in January of
2007. This was a perfectly lovely wine, reminding me of a
Beaujolais-styled Zinfandel a California winery made many years ago.
It was darker than the other wines in the tasting and it showed more
blackberry notes than typical strawberryish Gamay aromas and flavors.
I could actually sense the wine was fussed with to make it more attractive
to certain segments of the market. And it did appeal to some tasters.
We can order their wines for you, if you like, but for the time being we
have nothing in the shop.
- Currently in Stock: Special order.
We have access to many DuBoeuf wines. If there's a Beaujolais
appellation you'd like to taste, let me know and I'll get you some bottles.
DOMAINE DE ROBERT
 It
stands to reason that our colleague, Bob Gorman, would be especially fond of showing his
friends a wine from Domaine de Robert.
But never mind the vanity aspects of such a recommendation...we were
delighted to taste such a good example of Fleurie!
The estate is owned by Patrick and Nathalie Brunet. The Brunet
family has owned vineyards in Fleurie for many years and "dad"
(Robert) extended their holdings with purchasing a couple of hectares in
Morgon. Shortly after Dad died, Patrick renamed the the domaine to
"Domaine de Robert" after his late father.
Their vines in Fleurie are on a schist soil (be careful how you tell your
friends about this) and Brunet produces a fresh, almost flowery
Beaujolais. We've now had three or four vintages in the shop, each being a
good reflection of the growing season and each being quite good.
The 2006 is medium garnet in color with fresh strawberry fragrances wafting from
the glass. It's smooth enough to drink immediately, yet we expect it to
blossom further over the next couple of years. Serving it at cellar
temp is ideal.
- Currently in stock: 2007 DOMAINE DE ROBERT "Fleurie" $17.99
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MARCEL LAPIERRE
 - The Lapierre estate is quite famous amongst those proponents of organic
farming and minimal interventionist winemaking.
The family owns eleven hectares of Gamay vines and a small parcel is
cultivated biodynamically and the rest is farmed organically. They've
been doing this for several decades, one reason they're so revered in the
winemaking community.
They've added a few more hectares of rented vineyards which they also farm.
The stated goal of the Lapierres is to work with "grape
juice." They don't add sulphur to the juice nor do they add yeast
to ferment it. They do not chaptalise either (add sugar to the
juice). No pump overs during fermentation and no punch-downs.
Minimalist.
When the wine is nearly finished fermenting, the Lapierres transfer it to
seasoned oak barrels where it finishes its primary fermentation and where it
undergoes its secondary fermentation. The wine is then typically
matured in wood for 9 months and at this point, still no SO2.
They offer their importers the option of adding a small dose of sulphur at
bottling to preserve the wine. Filtration is another option. The Bay Area
importer says their bottling is unfiltered and sans
soufre (non-sulfited).
While some wine writers trumpet the virtues of this sort of enological
philosophy, we can't say the wine is "superior" to others from
Morgon, but it is distinctive and different and there is a particular
character here. Well worth trying, but you may find this to be
different from today's typical fruit-basket wines from Beaujolais.
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- Currently in stock: 2008 MARCEL LAPIERRE
"MORGON" $23.99
NOT FROM BEAUJOLAIS BUT MADE OF GAMAY
- MAISON ANGELOT
 I don't
think anyone has ever asked us for a wine from the appellation of
Bugey.
The region is rather obscure, being located in the Savoie region of France,
east of Lyon and west of Geneva, Switzerland. Well, finally we can
claim to have some Savoie fare here with the arrival of this wine from
Maison Angelot. The primary red grapes are Mondeuse and Gamay, though
they also grow Poulsard and Pinot Noir. The major white grape is
something called Chardonnay, though I haven't tasted one that's reminiscent
of the wines from Burgundy.
The Angelot brothers have about 57 acres of vines, split amongst numerous
parcels and various grape varieties. About four hectares' worth of
Gamay produces this wine. Their Gamay wine is much like the sort of
Beaujolais one would find in a good French restaurant, served by the
carafe. It is delightful served lightly chilled as an accompaniment to
chicken or other white meats. The 2007 is as good as most
Beaujolais-Villages wines, by the way.
The residents of Bugey (they are
not called "Buggers," incidentally) also like this wine with
Raclette, fondue or an assortment of charcuterie.
- Currently in stock: Angelot 2007 Bugey Gamay $11.99
The new label, designed by a French fellow who draws
"posters" and advertising art work.
The San Francisco importer asked the artist to submit a possible label drawing
using some ideas supplied by the importer.
Voila!
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BERNARD RONDEAU
- When our friend and wine importer Charles Neal mentioned bringing over a curious wine from the French Alps that was
made from Gamay and bubbly like an Italian spumante and sweet and pink we figured the poor fellow was
out of his mind.
This is a most frivolous bottle of wine...it's made in a region well east of Lyon in the Alps but in a locale that's neither the Jura nor the Savoie. We trekked there this past winter and found ourselves pretty much in France's version of the "middle of nowhere." Cell phones don't work there and the few souls who inhabit this landscape must be hermits, for when we asked various folks where the winery of Bernard Rondeau was located, virtually nobody had heard of the fellow!
- Rondeau has tanks similar to those we see in Italy's Piemonte at wineries producing Moscato d'Asti. He employs a similar sort of vinification in producing this simple VDQS (Vin
Delimitée Qualité Supérieur) called Bugey Cerdon or Cerdon de Bugey. The resulting wine is pink in color and it's fruity and sweet. When we visited Bernard and his lovely wife Marjorie, they brought out a plate of fried bread dusted with powdered sugar. We've since enjoyed this wine at home with red fruit desserts.
The wine is made about 40 minutes' drive from Bourg-en-Bresse, a town famed for its chickens. We drove to a fancy restaurant near there for dinner with the Rondeaus and were pleased to see Poulet de Bresse on the menu. Unfortunately, it has to be ordered two days before. Those chickens must be tough to catch!
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Currently in stock: BERNARD RONDEAU "BUGEY CERDON" $15.99 (sold
out as of October 1, 2009--the boat is due to dock around mid-October
2009) Stay tuned.
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