The Wines from A-Z

Le Beaujolais

There is absolutely nothing wrong with well-chosen Beaujolais. Bad marketing is at fault. It has stained the honour of a region wherein reside honourable men who create traditional ageworthy Cru Beaujolais. Wines from Morgon have been confused with Bourgogne Rouge. I'll never forget the inky purple blackness of the 1995 Morgon from Henry Fessy's Domaine de Calot. It could have been Rhône-grown it was so rich. On one occasion a business meeting was animated and needed moderating so I quietly poured a Juliénas, again from Fessy, and as I poured my own glass and sat to enjoy it I noticed the room had become quiet. All eyes turned from their stems to mine in awe and apreciation as they raised their glasses to good wine, good friends, good god y'all, hunh!
Like all of my in depth studies, we're gonna look at this region from a standpoint that terroir, the taste of site, if you will is primary. The French recognize this and so have nomenclature, which reflects this. Pretty much from North to South the Cru Beaujolais run thus…St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. This is the fabled land of the Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc grape. It is rumored that small amounts of Chardonnay and Aligoté are bottled as Beaujolais Blanc and Beaujolais-Villages Blanc, but I have yet to taste these rarities. So we will only concern ourselves with this noble red grape and with the finest producers. Passing attention only for the generic Beaujolais as well as the next step up in quality namely Beaujolais-Villages. I am going to ignore the faddish craze of Beaujo-Nouveau as it is rarely worth our time and partly responsible for the low esteem in which the real Beaujolais is held.
Beaujo is not just wine from the Gamay grape grown in the hilly granite vineyards of France. It is a result of traditional winemaking practises such as the whole bunch hand harvested grapes that result in carbonic maceration. The bottom grapes give off carbon dioxide as they ferment and this gas bubbles up through the topmost bunches and leads to intracellular fermentation. This technique coaxes exotic aromas and refreshing fruit flavors from a simple grape. The must is pressed and added to the free run juice and malolactic fermentation occurs. Luxury cuvées get cask ageing and if they are fortunate hand bottling. The vast majority of the wine is to be consumed within a year or two and is to be treated like water. Enjoyed not fawned over.
recommended wines:
Pick your way through the Dubeouf selections and demand Fessy!