In France, every year, the New Beaujolais Festival (Fête du Beaujolais Nouveau) takes place on the third Thursday of November. The celebration marks the day when Beaujolais Nouveau is finally ready to be sold and consumed. Unfortunately, this year, due to the pandemic, we are not able to celebrate it at bars and restaurants. Nevertheless, there is no reason one should not celebrate at home. Let us introduce you to Beaujolais that proudly open our French Wine Guide!
About the wine
Beaujolais is a light, red wine that comes from the region of the same name, located south of the Mâconnais area. Made from the Gamay grapes, the wine is highly acidic but lower on the tannic spectrum. Beaujolais usually has red fruit flavors (cherry, raspberry, cranberry), but you can also find less typical flavors like mushroom, forest floor, smoke, violet, baker’s yeast, banana, or even bubblegum. It is worth noting that Beaujolais is not very strong in alcohol (10-13%) and perfect for those who start their adventure with red wines. You can store it for up to five years. Beaujolais should be slightly chilled before serving.
Classifications of Beaujolais
Regarding quality, Beaujolais can be divided into three types:
- Beaujolais Cru (15% of production)
Beaujolais Cru is Beaujolais of the highest quality and comes only from ten villages (Crus) located on the northern side of the area. These wines can be a bit tricky to find since the labels state only the name of the Cru. Ten Crus of Beaujolais are Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Côte de Brouilly and Brouilly.
If you prefer lighter wines, you should go for Saint-Amour, Fleurie, or Chiroubles, but if you want to drink something bolder, you should look for Moulin-à-Vent, Juliénas, Morgon, or Brouilly. If you are more in-between, the best choice will be either Régnié, Côte de Brouilly, or Chénas.
- Beaujolais Villages (25% of production)
Beaujolais Villages wines come from 38 villages in the north of Beaujolais. They are of a higher quality than those of the straight Beaujolais appellation. Sometimes the names of these villages can appear on the label. Due to the granite or schist soils of the area, they have more “mineral” flavors.
- Beaujolais, Beaujolais Nouveau & Beaujolais Rosé (60% of production)
This is the largest appellation of the area consisting of all 96 winemaking villages, mostly located in the south. It includes standard Beaujolais and Beaujolais Supérieur (a little bit stronger in alcohol and taste) as well as famous and youthful Beaujolais Nouveau. Unlike other appellations, this one also offers Beaujolais Rosé, rapidly growing in popularity.
Beaujolais Nouveau has had spectacular success all over the world. Given its unusual flavor of a young wine, some people say that it was just a result of effective marketing strategies. In the beginning, Beaujolais Nouveau was drunk mostly by vineyard workers to celebrate the end of harvest. Then, this early release wine started appearing in cafés and restaurants and spreading to the rest of France. Now, it is loved everywhere, especially in the USA, Australia, and Japan. Because of its release date in November, for many Americans, Beaujolais Nouveau is an essential addition to the Thanksgiving table.
A bit of history
The regional tradition of winemaking traces back to the Romans, who were planting vineyards for their legionnaires (one of the crus is named Juliénas after Julius Caesar). Later, it was continued by the Benedictine monks in the Middle Age. Only good quality wines were brought to courts. This factor, as well as high taxes on goods from outside the area, contributed to the development of wine quality. Bordering the Beaujolais region, Lyon was the first and primary market for Beaujolais wines.
Interesting facts
- Beaujolais Nouveau has become so popular with the French that it has a slogan “Boulot-Bistrot-Beaujo” (work, bistro, Beaujolais) based on the common saying “Métro, boulot, dodo” (subway, work, sleep).
- Beaujolais Nouveau can also appear as Beaujolais Primeur. Both wines are almost the same; however, there is a slight difference between the two in harvest time. Both Beaujolais Nouveau and Beaujolais Primeur are not meant for aging. For that reason, Beaujolais Primeur can be sold until January 31 of the following year and nouveau until August 31. In Germany and the Benelux countries, consumers got used to Beaujolais Primeur, while English-speaking countries prefer Beaujolais Nouveau.
- In 1991, the organization Union interprofessionnelle des vins du Beaujolais was established to coordinate the production and sales of Beaujolais.
- About 75% of the Gamay grapes come from the Beaujolais region.
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