Beaujolais

Lying to the south of the famous Cote d’Or, Beaujolais spans 34 miles between Macon and Lyon, occupying 22,000ha. Planted mainly with Gamay, along with small tracts of Chardonnay and Aligote, red wine is the order of the day: of the 70 million litres of wine produced annually, red wine accounts for the vast majority. You would be forgiven for assuming that much of the wine produced in this beautiful region is thin and dilute, lacking character and quality. Beaujolais Noveau, released to the public on the third November following harvest, accounts for as much as half of the wine produced in Beaujolais and, as a consequence, has somewhat tarnished the region’s reputation for producing truly high quality wines. But, if you look a bit harder, many delicious and often serious wines are made up and down the region.

In addition to the generic Beaujolais classification, there are 10 crus: St Amour, Julienas, Moulin-a-vent, Chenas, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Mogron, Regnie, Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly. Each produce wines of a unique character, ranging from light and delicate, to those that are rich and silky that seem more at home in the Cote d’Or. The highest quality wines utilise traditional vinifcation methods, including oak ageing, while the wines designed for immediate consumption employ varying degrees of carbonic maceration, which give the characteristic banana and bubble gum flavours. There is a lot to enjoy in the wines from Beaujolais and they can present some very interesting and unexpected pleasure.