The Wines of Burgundy: Beaujolais

This blog is based on the Spirits of New Mexico radio show that aired on October 9, 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 also contrast wine styles as in the current blog. 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, home to Chablis and then drops 55 miles southeast to Dijon, the beginning of the 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, there are many excellent wines to find here and many of them under the radar versus the very popular Cote D’or Burgundies.

Map courtesy Yacht Cru wine guide

Burgundy: Key subregions

• Chablis-not shown
• 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. Whites from the region are only 2% of its production, mostly with Chardonnay grapes though Aligoté is also permitted until 2024. 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 technically part of the Burgundy wine region, the climate is closer to that of the Rhône, and the wine 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 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, 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 Rhone 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 claimed Beaujolais producers ignored the warning signs and continued to produce what he termed vin de merde.
• 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.
• 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 generally 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.

• Beaujolais AOC (11,860 acres): wines can come from the north region, known as Haut Beaujolais, but usually 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: only 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.

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.
• 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% Gamay are from Beaujolais and the Loire Valley in France and 5% from Switzerland. Decant for 30 minutes with most consumed quite young 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 it in 1934, but it was not employed until the 1960s. This technique is also a form of whole cluster fermentation that is also being employed with Pinot Noir. 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, Kirsch, Banana and Strawberry, but there is 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% alcohol, 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.
• Wines made this way include Beaujolais Nouveau, drunk young and can be 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.
• Yeast ferments the fruit and releases CO2, kick-starting carbonic maceration in the remaining un-burst grapes, which can be whole bunches or de-stemmed grapes above.
• Some winemakers use this method to obtain a fresher fruit character in their wines.

Either method can only produce around 2% alcohol, so once that completes the juice is pressed off the skins and yeast completes the fermentation process. Some producers have also gone back to the techniques used before WWI, treating the grape like Pinot Noir.

Map courtesy Wine Folly

Beaujolais Cru Sub-regions

The Beaujolais Cru wines all come from the hilly north region, making wines that can age for over 10 years. The wine label typically uses the Cru name, not Beaujolais to identify the wine. Each Cru has its own distinctive flavor profile, many quite popular. These are more structured and complex wines that are the darlings of many sommeliers. Information gathered from Flatiron Wine & Spirits (Flatiron-wines.com)

Beaujolais-Village:

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, but for most the name recognition of Beaujolais- Villages carries more weight.

Beaujolais-Cru from north to south:

• Saint-Amour
• Juliénas
• Chénas
• Moulin-à-Vent
• Fleurie
• Chirobles
• Morgon
• Régnié
• Cote de Brouilly and Brouilly

The Crus vary in size from 225 Ha in Chenas to 1,245 Ha 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!

Map courtesy Flatiron Wine & Spirits

Morgon Cru:

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.

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, 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 site made from old vines that were hand harvested and vinified in the traditional way. This will pair perfectly 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.”

Map courtesy Flatiron Wine & Spirits

Cote de Brouilly Cru

As the word “Côte” implies, the Côte de Brouilly lies on the side of a hill. Its neighbor, Brouilly (sans the “Côte”), is at the bottom. Predictably, Côte de Brouilly tends to ripen better, and it produces a more structured, elegant wine. Brouilly, meanwhile, produces a lighter style Beaujolais for early drinking; it makes frequent appearances in the simpler bistros that dot Paris.

The top producer of Côte de Brouilly is the Chateau Thivin, which makes a very long-lived example. Pierre Cotton and Alex Foillard are two new natural wine producers that make wines in both Brouilly and the Côte de Brouilly. Georges Descombes and Pierre Chermette both make Brouilly that is far richer and more complex than what is typical for the Cru.

What we are tasting: Guy Breton Cote de Brouilly 2018, 12.5% ABV, $37

Kermit Lynch is a big supporter of Beaujolais Cru wines and one of the most reliable importers of wine into California.

Kermit Lynch website, Tom Wolf:

A relatively new addition to Guy Breton’s Beaujolais lineup, this exuberant Côte de Brouilly is flat-out delicious, evoking blue and black fruit and packing lots of mouthwatering acidity. Compared to Guy’s benchmark cuvée, the Morgon, this wine shows the dark fruit and firm structure typical of the Côte de Brouilly. And yet its silky tannins and sensuous texture are characteristic of Guy’s wines, differentiating it from the earthier, tannic examples of this cru.

The ethereal aromas and juicy freshness are textbook Breton and the result of many factors—an early harvest, cool fermentation, shorter maceration, neutral oak aging—but particularly of Guy’s fermentation technique.

Fermentation: Many practitioners of semi-carbonic maceration allow the juice at the bottom of the tank to sit with the remaining grapes, whose skins impart more tannin and density to the juice. Guy, in contrast, removes this juice and transports it to another tank in order to give the final wine less concentration and tannin. It is still Côte de Brouilly and therefore has the structure to age nicely over the next five to ten years, but when it tastes this good now, why wait?

Analysis

We had tried the Morgon in mid-spring and enjoyed it then. Now in mid-fall it is still a rich, moderate tannin wine with juicy fruit and earthy notes of forest floor and dried fruit. I was a bit disappointed with the Cote de Brouilly as the technique of removing the first juice dropped the tannic element to a point where it lost the structure I love in a Beaujolais Cru wine; tipping it closer to a nouveau style. Perhaps that was the plan, or possibly we received a bad bottle as Guy Breton is a highly regarded winemaker.