The Gamay grape
When Philippe the Bold outlawed the cultivation of Gamay in Burgundy,
it pushed the grape south to the Beaujolais region.The Gamay grape
is thought to be a mutant of the Pinot Noir, which first appeared
in the village of Gamay, south of Beaune, in the 1360s. The grape
brought relief to the village growers following the decline of the
Black Death. In contrast to the Pinot Noir variety, Gamay ripened
two weeks earlier and was less difficult to cultivate. It also produced
a strong, fruitier wine in a much larger abundance. In July 1395,
the Duke of Burgundy Philippe the Bold outlawed the cultivation
of Gamay as being "a very bad and disloyal plant", due
in part to the variety occupying land that could be used for the
more "elegant" Pinot Noir. 60 years later, Philippe the
Good, issued another edict against Gamay in which he stated the
reasoning for the ban is that "The Dukes of Burgundy are known
as the lords of the best wines in Christendom. We will maintain
our reputation".[2] The edicts had the effect of pushing Gamay
plantings southward, out of the main region of Burgundy and into
the granite based soils of Beaujolais where the grape thrived.[1]
Scandals
Following the 2001 vintage, over 1.1 million cases
of Beaujolais wine (most of it Beaujolais Nouveau) had to be destroyed
or distilled due to lackluster sale as part of a consumer blacklash
against the popularity of Beaujolais Nouveau. French wine critic
François Mauss claimed, in an interview given to a local
newspaper Lyon Mag, that the reason for the blacklash was the poor
quality of Beaujolais Nouveau that had flooded the market in recent
decades. He claimed that Beaujolais producers had long ignored the
warning signs that such a backlash was coming and continued to produce
what Mauss termed as vin de merde (shit wine).[3] This triggered
an outcry among Beaujolais producers followed by an association
of 56 cooperative producers filing a lawsuit against the Lyon Mag
for publishing Mauss comments. Rather than sue for libel, the producers
sued under an obscured French law that prevented the denigration
of French products. In January 2003 the court in Villefranche-sur-Saône
found in the Beaujolais producers favor and awarded USD$350,000
which would put the small, employee owned publication out of business.[4]
The bad publicity garnered from the "Shit wine case" was
extensive, with several publications such as Le Monde, The Times,
The New York Times and the Herald Tribune running critical or satirical
articles on the court's decision.[3] In 2005 the highest court of
appeal found that there was no case for defamation and Representatives
of the Beaujolais winemakers were ordered to pay €2,000 (USD$2,442)
in court costs to Lyon Mag.[3]
The Vins Georges Duboeuf company was charged in
2005 with mixing low-grade wine with better vintages after a patchy
2004 harvest.[5] Georges Duboeuf denied wrongdoing, blaming human
error and pointing out that none of the affected wine was released
to consumers.[5] The production manager directly responsible admitted
his actions and resigned, and a court found that both "fraud
and attempted fraud concerning the origin and quality of wines"
had been committed.[5] Fewer than 200,000 liters of the company's
annual 270 million liter production were implicated, but L'Affaire
Duboeuf, as it was called, was considered a serious scandal.[6]
In December 2007, five people were arrested after reportedly selling
nearly 600 tonnes of sugar to growers in Beaujolais. Up to 100 growers
were accused of using the sugar for illegal chaptalization and also
of exceeding volume quotas between 2004 and 2006.[7]
Climate and geography
Beaujolais is a large wine producing region, about twice the size
of the US state of Rhode Island and larger than any single district
of Burgundy. There is over 50,000 acres (20,234 hectares) of vines
planted in a 34 mile (55 kilometer) stretch of land that between
7 to 9 miles wide (11 to 14 km).[8] The historical capital of the
province is Beaujeu (Bôjor /Biôjśr in Arpitan) and the
economic capital of the area is Villefranche-sur-Saône (Velafranche).
Many of Beaujolais vineyards are found in the hillside on the outskirt
of Lyons in the eastern portion of the region along the Saône
valley. The Massif Central is located to the west and has a tempering
influence on Beaujolais' climate. The region is located south of
the Burgundy wine region Mâconnais with nearly 100 communes
in the northern region of Beaujolais overlapping between the AOC
boundaries Beaujolais and the Maconnais region of Saint-Véran.[1]
The climate of Beaujolais is semi-continental with
some temperate influences. The close proximately of the Mediterranean
Sea does impart some Mediterranean influence on the climate. The
region is overall, warmer than Burgundy with vintages more consistently
ripening the grapes fully. By the time that the Beaujolais Nouveau
is released in late November, the foothills in the western regions
will have normally seen snow. A common viticultural hazard is spring
time frost.[1]
The soils of Beaujolais divide the region into a
northern and southern half, with the town of Villefranche serving
as a near dividing point. The northern half of Beaujolais, where
most of the Cru Beaujolais communes are located, includes rolling
hills of schist and granite based soils with some limestone. On
hillsides, most of the granite and schist is found in the upper
slopes with the lower slopes having more stone and clay composition.
The southern half of the region, also known as the Bas Beaujolais,
has more flatter terrain with richer, sandstone and clay based soils
with some limestone patches. The Gamay grape fares differently in
both regions-producing more structured, complex wines in the north
and more lighter, fruity wines in the south. The angle of the hillside
vineyards in the north exposes the grapes to more sunshine which
leads to harvest at an early time than the vineyards in the south.[1]
Appellations
A bottle of Beaujolais-Villages blanc made from Chardonnay &
Aligote.There are twelve main appellations of Beaujolais wines covering
the production of more than 96 villages in the Beaujolais region.[9]
They were originally established in 1936, with additional crus being
promoted in 1938 and 1946, plus Régnié in 1988. About
half of all Beaujolais wine is sold under the basic Beaujolais AOC
designation. The majority of this wine is produced in the southern
Bas Beaujolais region located around the town of Belleville. The
minimum alcohol level for these wines is 10%. If the grapes are
harvested a little later, or the wine is subjected to chaptalization,
to get the alcohol up to 10.5% the wine maybe labeled as Beaujolais
Supérieur. The only difference between basic Beaujolais and
Beaujolais Supérieur is this slight increase in alcohol.[1]
Beaujolais AOC is the most extended appellation
covering 60 villages, and refers to all basic Beaujolais wines.
It implies a minimum alcohol of just 9%; Beaujolais Supérieur
implies wine with more than 10% alcohol. A large portion of the
wine produced under this appellation is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau.
The maximum yield for this AOC is 55 hl/ha (3.1 tons/acre).[1] Annually,
this appellation averages around 75 millions bottles a year in production.[8]
Beaujolais-Villages AOC, the intermediate category in terms of classification,
covers 39 communes/villages in the Haut Beaujolais, the northern
part of the region accounting for a quarter of production. Some
is sold as Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau, but it is not common. Most
of the wines are released in the following March after the harvest.
The terrain of this region is hillier with more schist and granite
soil composition than what is found in the regions of the Beaujolais
AOC and the wine has the potential to be of higher quality. If the
grapes come from the area of a single vineyard or commune, producers
can affix the name of their particular village to the Beaujolais-Villages
designation. Since most of the villages of Beaujolais, outside of
those classified as Cru Beaujolais, villages have little international
name recognitions most producers choose to maintain the Beaujolais-Villages
designation. The maximum permitted yields for this AOC is 50 hl/ha.[1]
These wines are meant to be consumed young, within two years of
their harvest.[8] Several of the communes in the Beaujolais-Villages
AOC also qualify to produce their wines under the Mâconnais
and Saint-Véran AOCs. The Beaujolais producers that producer
a red wine under the Beaujolais-Villages appellation will often
producer their white wine under the more internationally recognized
names of Mâcon-Villages or Saint-Véran.[4]
Cru Beaujolais region of RégniéCru Beaujolais, the
highest category of classification in Beaujolais, account for the
production within ten villages/areas in the foothills of the Beaujolais
mountains. Unlike Burgundy and Alsace, the phrase cru in Beaujolais
refers to entire wine producing area rather than an individual vineyard.[9]
Seven of the Crus relate to actual villages while Brouilly and Côte
de Brouilly refer to the vineyards areas around Mont Brouilly and
Moulin-à-Vent is named for a local windmill.[8] These wines
do not usually show the word "Beaujolais" on the label,
in an attempt to separate themselves from mass-produced Nouveau;
in fact vineyards in the cru villages are not allowed to produce
Nouveau. The maximum yields for Cru Beaujolais wine is 48 hl/ha.
Their wines can be more full-bodied, darker in color, and significantly
longer-lived. From north to south the Beaujolais crus are- Saint-Amour,
Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles,
Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly.[1]
Beaujolais Blanc & Beaujolais Rosé - A small amount of
white wine made from Chardonnay or Aligote is grown in the region
and used to produce Beaujolais Blanc or Beaujolais-Villages Blanc.
The vineyards to produces these wines are normally found in the
limestone soils of the far northern extremities of the region. Part
of the reason for the small production of these wines is that many
of the vineyards overlap into the Mâconnais regions and producers
will usually choose to label their wines under the more marketable
and well known Mâcon Blanc designation. There is also regulations
in several Beaujolais communes restricting growers to dedicating
no more than 10% of their vineyard space to white wine grape varieties.
Beaujolais Rosé made from Gamay is permitted in the Beaujolais
AOC but is rarely produced.[1]
Beaujolais Crus
Bottle of Côte de Brouilly wine.The ten Beaujolais Crus differ
in character. The following three crus produce the lightest bodied
Cru Beaujolais and are typically meant to be consumed within three
years of the vintage.[8]
Brouilly - The largest Cru in Beaujolais, situated
around Mont Brouilly and contains within its boundaries the sub-district
of Côte de Brouilly. The wines are noted for their aromas
of blueberries, cherries, raspberries and currants.[9] Along with
Côte de Brouilly, this is the only Cru Beaujolais region that
permits grapes other than Gamay to be produced in the area with
vineyards growing Chardonnay, Aligote and Melon de Bourgogne as
well. The Brouilly cru also contains the famous Pisse Vieille vineyard
(roughly translated as "piss old woman!") which received
it name from a local legend of a devout Catholic woman who misheard
the local priest's absolution to "Allez! Et ne péchez
plus." (Go! And sin no more.) as "Allez! Et ne pissez
plus." (Go! And piss no more). The vineyard name is the admonishment
that her husband gave to her upon learning of the priest's words.[4]
Régnié - The most recently recognized Cru, graduating
from a Beaujolais-Villages area to Cru Beaujolais in 1988. One of
the more fuller bodied crus in this categories. It is noted for
its red currant and raspberry flavors.[9] Local lore in the region
states that this Cru was the site of the first vineyards planted
in Beaujolais by the Romans.[4]
Chiroubles - This cru has vineyards at some of the highest altitudes
among the Cru Beaujolais. Chiroubles cru are noted for their delicate
perfume that often includes aromas of violets.[9]
The next three crus produce more medium bodied Cru Beaujolais that
Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan recommend needs at least a year
aging in the bottle and to be consumed within fours years of the
vintage.[8]
Côte de Brouilly - Located on the higher slopes
of the extinct volcano Mont Brouilly within the Brouilly Cru Beaujolais.
The wines from this region are more deeply concentrated with less
earthiness than Brouilly wine.[9]
Fleurie - One of the most widely exported Cru Beaujolais into the
United States. These wines often have a velvet texture with fruity
and floral bouquet.[9] In ideal vintages, a vin de garde (wine for
aging) is produced that is meant to age at least four years before
consuming and can last up to 16 years.[4]
Saint-Amour - Local lore suggest that this region was named after
a Roman soldier (St. Amateur) who converted to Christianity after
escaping death and established a mission near the area. The wines
from Saint-Amour are noted for their spicy flavors with aromas of
peaches.[9] The vin de garde wines require at least four year aging
and can last up to twelve years.[4]
The last four crus produce the fullest bodied examples of Cru Beaujolais
that need the most time aging in the bottle and are usually meant
to be consumed between four to ten years after harvest.[8]
Chénas - Once contained many of the vineyards
that are now sold under the Moulin-à-Vent designation. It
is now the smallest Cru Beaujolais with wines that are noted for
their aroma of wild roses.[9] In ideal vintages, a vin de garde
is produced that is meant to age at least five years before consuming
and last up to 15. The area named is derived from the forest of
French oak trees (chêne) that use to dot the hillside.[4]
Juliénas-This cru is based around the village named after
Julius Caesar. The wines made from this area are noted for their
richness and spicy with aromas reminiscent of peonies.[9] In contrast
to the claims of Régnié, Juliénas growers believe
that this area was the site of the first vineyards planted in Beaujolais
by the Romans during this conquest of Gaul.[4]
Morgon - Produces earthy wines that can take on a Burgundian character
of silky texture after five years aging. These wines are generally
the deepest color and most rich Cru Beaujolais with aromas of apricots
and peaches.[9] Within this Cru there is a particular hillside,
known as Mont du Py, in the center of Morgon that produces the most
powerful examples of Morgon wines.[4]
Moulin-à-Vent - Wines are very similar to the nearby Chénas
Cru Beaujolais. This region produces some of the longest lasting
examples of Beaujolais wine, with some wines lasting up to ten years.
Some producers will age their Moulin-à-Vent in oak which
gives these wines more tannin and structure than other Beaujolais
wines. The phrase fûts de chêne (oak casks) will sometimes
appear on the wine label of these oak aged wines.[8] The region
is noted for the high level of manganese that is in the soil, which
can be toxic to grape vines in high levels. The level of toxicity
in Moulin-à-Vent does not kill the vine but is enough to
cause chlorosis and alter the vine's metabolism to severely reduce
yields. The resulting wine from Moulin-à-Vent are the most
full bodied and powerful examples in Beaujolais. The vin de garde
styles require at least 6 years aging and can last up to 20 years.[4]
Beaujolais Nouveau
Main article: Beaujolais Nouveau
Beaujolais Nouveau is often packaged in colorful bottles that play
into the festival marketing of the wine.The early history of Beaujolais
Nouveau can trace its roots to 19th century when the first wines
of the vintage were sent down the Saône to the early bistros
of Lyon. Upon their arrival signs would be put out proclaiming "Le
Beaujolais Est Arrivé!" and its consumption was seen
as a celebration of another successful harvest. In the 1960s, this
style of simple Beaujolais became increasingly popular worldwide
with more than half a million cases of being sold. In 1985 the Institut
National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO) established the 3rd Thursday
of November to allow for a uniform released date for the wine. Wines
are typically a shipped a few days earlier to locations around the
world where they must be held in a bonded warehouse till 12:01 AM
when they wines can be first opened and consumed.[9]
Today, about a third of the region's production
is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau, a marketing name created by George
Duboeuf for the local vin de l'année. It is the lightest,
fruitiest style of Beaujolais and meant for simple quaffing. Any
Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages AOC vineyard can produce Beaujolais
Nouveau. The grapes are harvested between late August and early
September. It is fermented for just a few days and released to the
public on the 3rd Thursday of November - "Beaujolais Nouveau
Day". It is the first French wine to be released for each vintage
year. At its peak in 1992, more than half the wine of all Beaujolais
wine was sold as "Beaujolais Nouveau".[1] The wines are
meant to be drunk as young as possible, when they are at their freshest
and fruitiest. They can last up to one or two years but will have
lost its most of it characteristic flavors by that point.[8]
Viticulture and grape varieties
The Beaujolais region has one of the highest vine density ratio
of any major, worldwide wine region with anywhere from 9000 to 13,000
vines per hectare. Most vines are trained in the traditional goblet
style where the spurs of the vines are pushed upwards and arranged
in a circle, resembling a chalice. This method has its roots in
the Roman style of vine training and has only recently begun to
fall out of favor for the guyot method which involves taking a single
or double spur and training it out horizontally. Harvest usual occurs
in late September and is almost universally done by hand rather
than with the use of mechanical harvesters. This is because the
Beaujolais wine making style of carbonic maceration utilizes whole
bunches of grapes clusters that normally get broken and separated
by a mechanical harvester.[1]
The Gamay grape, more accurately known as Gamay
Noir à Jus Blanc to distinguish it from the Gamay teinturier
grapes with red juice and different from the Napa Gamay and the
Gamay Beaujolais grapes of California, is the most widely planted
grape in Beaujolais accounting for nearly 98% of all plantings.[8]
The remaining plantings are mostly Chardonnay. Aligote vines that
were planted prior to 2004 are permitted in wine production but
the entire grape variety is being phased out of the region by 2024.
According to AOC regulation, up to 15% of white wine grape varieties
can be included in all Beaujolais red wines from the basic Beaujolais
AOC to the Cru Beaujolais wines but in practice the wines are almost
always 100% Gamay. Pinot noir, which has very small plantings, is
also permitted but that grape is being phased out by 2015 as Beaujolais
winemakers continued to focus their winemaking identity on the Gamay
grape.[1] The characteristics that the Gamay grapes adds to Beaujolais
is bluish-red deep color with low acidity, moderate tannins and
light to medium body. The aromas associated with the grape itself
is typically red berries.[8]
Since the 1960s, more focus has been placed on the
choice of rootstocks and clonal selection with six approved clones
of Gamay for the wine region. In recent years the rootstock Vialla
has gained popularity due to its propensity to produce well in granite
soils. The SO4 and 3309 rootstocks also account for significant
plantings. Clonal selections of the Gamay grape has shifted towards
an emphasis on smaller, thicker skinned berries.[1]
Winemaking and style
See also: Carbonic maceration
Beaujolais nouveauBeaujolais wines are produced by the winemaking
technique of semi-carbonic maceration. Whole grape clusters are
put in cement or stainless steel tanks with capacities between 40-300
hectoliters (1,056 to 7,920 gallons). The bottom third of the grapes
gets crushed under the weight of gravity and resulting must begins
normal yeast fermentation with ambient yeasts found naturally on
the skins of the grapes. Carbon dioxide is released as a by product
of this fermentation and begins the saturate the individual, intact
grape berries that remain in the barrel. The carbon dioxide seeps
into the skin of the grape and begin to stimulate fermentation at
an intracellular level. This is caused, in part, because of the
absence of oxygen in the winemaking environment.[8] This results
in a fruity wine without much tannin. In the case of Beaujolais
nouveau, this process is completed in as little as four days with
the other AOCs being allowed longer time to ferment. As the grapes
ferment longer, they develop more tannins and a fuller body.[1]
After fermentation, the must is normally high in
malic acid and producers will put the wine through malolactic fermentation
to soften the wine. The process of chaptalization, adding sugar
to the grape must to boost alcohol levels, has been a controversial
issue for Beaujolais winemakers. Historically, Beaujolais producers
would pick grapes at ripeness that were at minimum potential alcohol
levels of 10-10.5% and then add sugar in order to artificially boost
the alcohol levels to the near the maximum of 13-13.5%. This created
wines that lack structure and balance to go with the high alcohol
body and mouthfeel. The recent trend towards higher quality wine
production has limited the use of chaptalization in the premium
levels of Beaujolais wine.[1] Filtering the wine, in order to stabilize
it, is practiced to varying degrees by Beaujolais winemakers. Some
producers who make Beaujolais on a large commercial scale will filter
the wine aggressively, to avoid any impurity or future chemical
reactions. This can have the negative side effect of diminishing
some of the wines unique fruit character and leave a flavor that
critics have described as Jell-O-like.[9]
Basic Beaujolais is the classic bistro wine of Paris;
a fruity, easy-drinking red traditionally served in 1 pint glass
bottles known as pot. This is epitomized in Beaujolais Nouveau,
which is fermented for just a few days and can be dominated by estery
flavors such as bananas and pear drops. Basic Beaujolais and Beaujolais
nouveau are meant to be drunk within a year of their harvest. Beaujolais
village are generally consumed within 2-3 years and Cru Beaujolais
has the potential to age longer, some not even fully developing
till at least 3 years after harvest. Premium examples from Chénas,
Juliénas, Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent can spend up to
10 years continuing to develop in the bottle and in very good vintages
can take on Burgundian qualities of structure and complexity.[1]
Wine industry
The Beaujolais wine industry is dominated by the more than 30 négociants
who produce nearly 90% of the wine sold outside the Beaujolais region.
Many of these négociants are based in Burgundy-such as Louis
Jadot and Bouchard Père et Fils. One of the most well known
Beaujolais producers is the négociants Georges Duboeuf. There
are more than 4000 vineyard owners in Beaujolais and the fractional
amount that is not sold to négociants are bottled by the
nearly 20 village co-operatives with a growing amount being estated
bottled. Very little of the estate bottled Beaujolais wines are
exported into the United States or United Kingdom though a few exporters
specialize in this small niche-the most notable being Kermit Lynch
and Alain Jugenet.[9]
Serving and food pairing
Light bodied Beaujolais wine, such as Beaujolais Village pair well
with lighter fare like salads.Wine expert Karen MacNeil has described
Beaujolais as "the only white wine that happens to be red".[9]
Similarly, Beaujolais is often treated like a white wine and served
slightly chilled with the lighter the style, the lower temperature
it is served at. Beaujolais Nouveau, being the lightest style, is
served at about 52°F (11°C. Beaujolais AOC and Beaujolais-Villages
are generally served between 56-57°F (13°C). Cru Beaujolais,
especially the fuller bodied examples, can be treated like red Burgundy
wine and served at 60-62°F (15-16°C). The wines rarely need
to be decanted.[8] In Beaujolais, it is traditional to soak the
bottles in buckets of ice water and bring them out to the center
villages for picnics and games of boules.[9]
Beaujolais wine can be paired with a variety of
food according to the lightness and body of the wine. Beaujolais
Nouveau is typically used as an apéritif with basic Beaujolais
and Beaujolais-Villages doing well with light fare, like picnics
and salads. The lighter Cru Beaujolais pair well with poultry and
the heavier Crus pairing better with red meats and hearty dishes
like stews.[8] According to Lyon chef Paul Bocuse, Beaujolais wine
is used to make a traditional regional dessert involving a glass
of sliced peaches, topped with black currants and drenched in chilled
Beaujolais wine.[9]