The Wines of Burgundy: Beaujolais

This blog is based on the Spirits of New Mexico radio show that aired on May 8, 2021. We do on-air tasting of one or two wines to illustrate what is available in a particular wine region, or as a contrast of what influence a wine region has on a grape or blend. We use suitable glasses for the type of wine and do a double-decant of red wines to insure they have opened sufficiently for accurate judging.

Officially called Bourgogne and established as an AOC wine region in 1935. Burgundy has a higher number of appellations d’origine contrôlée (AOCs) than any other French region, and is often seen as the most terroir-conscious of the French wine regions.

This region begins in Auxerre (awx-air), the northern end of Chablis and then travels 55 miles southeast to Dijon, known for wine and mustard, a rather interesting juxtaposition. This is the beginning of the fabled Cote d’Or. Many wine drinkers think the Burgundy region stops at Maconnais, but it does go south to the Beaujolais region. Whether you think of Beaujolais as part of Burgundy or separate, (yes, many Burundians still try to ignore it) there are many excellent wines to find here and many of them under the radar versus the very popular Cote d’Or Burgundies.

Burgundy: Key subregions

• Chablis
• Cote D’or – comprised of Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune
• Cote Chalonnaise
• Cote Maconnais
• Beaujolais

Beaujolais Overview

Beaujolais is a French AOC wine primarily made with the Gamay grape. As with most AOC wines these are not labeled varietally, but geographically by terroir. Whites from the region are only 2% of its production, mostly with Chardonnay or Aligoté another white grape. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity. In some vintages, Beaujolais has produced more wine than all the other Burgundy regions combined. Obviously finding Beaujolais wines is not difficult.

The wine takes its name from the historical Province of Beaujolais wine-producing region. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the department of Rhône, the Rhône-Alpes region and southern areas of the department of Saône-et-Loire, in Burgundy. While it’s technically part of the Burgundy wine region, the climate is closer to that of the Rhône, and uses a different grape and winemaking process.

The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, for the use of carbonic maceration, and more recently for the popular Beaujolais nouveau wines that are release in November.

Beaujolais History

The region of Beaujolais was first cultivated by the Romans around the Saône (Sown) valley. The plantings were at Mont Brouilly (BROO-Yee) and the area around Morgon (MORE-gon). From the 7th century through the Middle Ages, most of the viticulture was done by Benedictine monks. Their documentation of varieties, planting methods and wine processing were invaluable for future winemakers.

In the 10th century, the region was named for the town of Beaujeu in Rhône and ruled by the Lords of Beaujeu until the 15th century when it was ceded to the Duchy of Burgundy. While the markets were primarily along the Rhône and Saône rivers, the expansion of the French railroad system in the 19th century opened up the lucrative Paris market as it did for other wine regions. In more recent history:

• In the 1980s, interest in Beaujolais peaked with the introduction of Beaujolais nouveau. One of the primarily wine merchants is Georges Duboeuf.
• As more producers got in the market, production of regular Beaujolais dropped and the glut on the market caused a backlash in the late 1990s and early 21st century.
• By this point, Beaujolais wine developed a negative reputation as a slightly sweet, simple light-bodied wine which was Beaujolais Nouveau.
• French wine critic François Mauss interviewed in Lyon Mag, claimed the backlash was due to poor quality of Beaujolais Nouveau flooding the market. He said Beaujolais producers ignored the warning signs and continued to produce what he termed vin de merde.

The damming review caused all manner of consternation and suing before the smoke cleared. I guess calling your wine, merde – pardon my French – really tweaked some noses.

• In 2005 there was L’Affaire Duboeuf, an employee of Geo. Duboeuf admitted to mixing low-grade wine with better vintages after a patchy 2004 harvest. I‘m sure there were cries to have the fellow drawn and quartered or guillotined.
• It’s important to note that it’s the basic Beaujolais and Nouveau one must choose carefully. Beaujolais-Village wines with their tighter regulations and rules do not have these problems.
• There is now a rise in the number of terroir driven estate-bottled wines, often single vineyard or in one of the Cru Beaujolais
• There are currently 10 Cru Beaujolais subregions we cover later.

Quality levels

As one would expect there are distinctive quality levels to Beaujolais wines as suggested above. Beaujolais Nouveau; released right after bottling in November can come from all but the Beaujolais Cru designations. For which I am most thankful.

• Beaujolais AOC (11,860 acres): wines can come from the north region, known as Haut Beaujolais, but typically from southern Beaujolais, known as Bas Beaujolais on flatter, richer soils.
• Beaujolais-Village AOC (9,600 acres): one of 38 defined villages within Haut Beaujolais
• Beaujolais Cru AOC: all are located in the north on poorer soils rich in granite, schist and limestone. The terrain is hilly with many steep slopes to assist fully-ripe grapes.

I know it might seem strange for those not used to quality wines, but the more abusive one is with one’s grapes the better quality one gets. Not that the grower uses a whip in the vineyard, but making a vine work harder, as it does often with humans, yields better results.

Gamay Grape

Gamay noir is a cross of Pinot Noir and the ancient white variety Gouais. Compared to Pinot Noir, Gamay ripens two weeks earlier and is less difficult to cultivate. It also produced a strong, fruitier wine in larger abundance.

• In 1395, the Duke of Burgundy Philippe the Bold outlawed the cultivation of Gamay as being “a very bad and disloyal plant.” Clearly he thought he could rule wine grapes as he did his subjects.
• The Duke thought it would hurt the reputation of the revered Pinot Noir and as a result of his edicts the grape moved southward to the granite based soils of Beaujolais where the grape thrived.

Gamay is light-bodied with low tannins and moderate alcohol with good acidity and moderate sweetness accept for the nouveau versions. Flavors of pomegranate and blackberry bramble are accented with violets, potting soil and banana.

Over 90% of the Gamay plantings are in Beaujolais and the Loire Valley in France and 5% from Switzerland. Most Beaujolais is consumed young, one to two years, except for the Crus, which can cellar up to 10-20 years.

Carbonic Maceration

Beaujolais wines are commonly made using carbonic maceration. Michel Franzy, a French scientist, discovered the process in 1934, but it was not employed until the 1960s. This technique also includes a form of whole cluster fermentation. Adding the stems can smooth out high acidity and add tannins to a wine. The character of the stems, green or brown also adds flavors.

• Some key flavors associated with carbonic maceration: Bubble gum (no blowing bubbles please), Kirsch, Banana and Strawberry, but there are two forms of carbonic maceration.

Full carbonic

• Whole bunches of grapes are placed in vats, which are then sealed and filled with CO2 to remove the oxygen.
• This triggers a process within the grapes known as intracellular fermentation. Once alcohol levels reach around 2% ABV, the grape skins split and release their juice.
• Carbonic maceration extracts some color from the grapes but little tannin, generally creating red wines that are light in color, low in tannin with a soft, fruity character. The grapes truly look engorged and dense from the process.
• Wines made this way include Beaujolais Nouveau, drunk young and often slightly chilled.

Semi-carbonic maceration

• Semi-carbonic maceration is a similar method of production, but does not include filling the vats with CO2.
• Instead, when the vat is filled, the weights of the grapes on top crush the ones below, releasing the juice.
• Native yeasts on the grapes ferment the fruit and releases CO2, kick-starting carbonic maceration in the remaining un-burst grapes.
• Some winemakers use this method to obtain a fresher fruit character in their wines.

Courtesy of Vineyards.com they do great maps

Either method can only produce around 2% alcohol, so once that completes the juice is pressed off the skins and native or commercial yeast completes the fermentation process. Some producers have also gone back to the techniques used before WWI; treating the Gamay similar to Pinot Noir, which also improves aging and complexity.

Beaujolais Cru Sub-regions

The Beaujolais Cru wines all come from the hilly north region, making wines that can age for 10 or more years. The wine label typically uses the Cru name, not Beaujolais to identify the wine. Each Cru has its own distinctive flavor profile and some Crus have become quite popular. These are more structured and complex wines that are the darlings of many sommeliers.

Interspersed with the Crus are the village wines. Optionally a Beaujolais-Villages wine can substitute its village name if all the grapes come from a single vineyard, such as Beaujolais- Lantignié. That village does possess the prized pink granite of many of the Crus, but for most vintners the name recognition of Beaujolais- Villages carries more weight. Pronunciation keys are provided unless you are French.

Reading from north to south: Saint-Amour (Sen-Ta-moor)           Juliénas (Jool-yeh-nah)
Chénas (Shay-na)            Moulin-à-Vent (Moo-leng-ah-ven)          Fleurie (FLUH-ree)
Chirobles (Shee-roobl)                  Morgon (More-gon)                       Régnié (Ray-nyay)
Cote de Brouilly (Koht-duh-broo-yee)                                                    Brouilly (Broo-yee)

The Crus vary in size from 556 acres in Chenas to 3,078 acres in Brouilly. Many of them are famous for aging well and, in particular, for developing more and more Burgundian flavors over time. There’s even a French word for this transformation: “pinoter” — to turn pinot-like. Of course the French would have a word for it!  Some information gathered from Flatiron Wine & Spirits (Flatiron-wines.com)

Morgon:

A full-bodied, powerful and meaty wine, Morgon features ripe cherry, peach, apricot and plum aromas and a deep garnet color. The soil in Morgon is rich in iron oxide with traces of manganese and volcanic rock. The Cru has six different vineyards that divide the area into three bands that face south, southeast and northwest, each producing very different styles of wine. In all, 250 producers found across 4.5 square miles make 7.3 million bottles a year. Hey, 250 producers can’t be wrong.

Morgon is the second largest Cru after Brouilly, comprised of 2745 acres and six climats or named vineyards. It is named after the local hamlet of Morgon, which is in the center of the area and borders the village of Villié-Morgon.

What we are tasting: Montchoisy 2017 Morgon Beaujolais. 13% ABV $19.99 at Total Wines

Producer: Jean-Claude Debeaune. produced by the negociant house Jean-Claude Debeaune which is part of the Beaujolais empire of Georges DuBoeuf.

Winemaker notes: Beaujolais, France- This wine is bursting with flavor of red berries and dark fruit. It comes from a carefully selected Morgon made from old vines that were hand harvested and vinified in the most traditional way. Perfect to pair with red meats, duck and aged cheeses.

“2017  Morgon  Montchoisy  takes  the  appellation  to  another  level.  Super  dark  fruits  are  wrapped  in  dark  chocolate-like  flavors  and  carried  on  long  velvety tannins.”  James Suckling.

What we are tasting Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2019, 13.5 ABV, $12.99

Grapes are sourced from the finest vineyards within the Beaujolais-Villages appellation in northern Beaujolais. Louis Jadot practices the quality-driven “replis” method, whereby grapes of higher classifications from the 10 famed Beaujolais Cru villages are added to elevate the blend. The area’s granite and sandy sub-soils contain a high percentage of manganese, which produces an especially deep and rich expression of Gamay. Grapes are handpicked in whole bunches and traditional Burgundian methods are used for vinification.

Analysis

The Morgon as Suckling exclaimed was a delightful surprise for me as I’d only tried one previous Beaujolais Cru and I will go back for more of this one. The complexity of the old vine grapes, the structure and the meaty texture reminded me more of a red Burgundy. The Jadot that Kevin brought was actually Beaujolais, not Beaujolais-Villages and it suffered in comparison to the Morgon, but not bad otherwise. I would seek out Jadot’s Village wine, however. The Montchoisy Morgon erased any previous reservations I had about Beaujolais wines. They can be very impressive!