Few things you need to know about Beaujolais.

Beaujolais is one of the most internationally known wine regions in France. After Champagne, Beaujolais is the second most known wine region. Each year we celebrate its primeur. Bottles are available across the world. But do you know the Beaujolais? It has a great terroir and a rich history and it is the birthplace of the modern natural wine movement.

The geography and geology of the region

The Beaujolais region is located at the east of the massif central mountains, between the city of Lyon in the south to the city of Macon in the north and limited in the east by the Saône river. The vineyard is located in the Rhône department and part of the Saōnne et Loire It is a succession of small mountains, “les monts du Beaujolais”. Only the eastern part of the region produces wine. the vineyard is made up of hills and slopes between 150 m and 550 m above sea level.

The Massif Central Mountain range protects the area from the influences of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea during the summer.

Soil

The soil in the Beaujolais region is complex. To simplify the northern part (where are located all the crue of the Beaujolais) is mainly made up of granites and sands (gneiss and mica schist) while in the south the sol is mainly made up of limestone and clay. But it is a simplification. Many sorts of granite and limestone can be found in the Beaujolais region, making the region very rich and diverse.

History

it is in this environment that the Beaujolais vineyard was born. In a location near a navigable river, la Saône, and near a big city, Lyon. Winemaking has been documented here since the Roman time. At the end of the 14th century, the region was not affected by the ban of the Gamay in Burgundy, it started to be planted in the region as the grape as the soil is more suitable. Beaujolais was, at this time an independent province with the city of Beaujeu. The name, Beaujolais may have come from Beaujou (and not the name of its capital) which can be translated from the local dialect as pretty hill.

If wine production is attested since the Roman time, and the Gamay grape has been used since the 14th century. The wine is only known locally. The first and principal commercial partner was the City of Lyon and its taverns, the Bouchons Lyonnais during the 17th century. Thanks to navigation on the Saone that allowed the transport of barrels.

The wine is served as an everyday wine and was not considered as fine as Bourgogne wine. Access to other markets like Paris was too complex as no practical road was available at this time.

The Paris market opened with the construction of railroads, but its notoriety was limited. In 1930, a state decree reattached the vineyard to the Bourgogne wine region.

Winemaking

Today, if you speak about Beaujolais, people will automatically think, of carbonic maceration, or semi-carbonic maceration. In this process, grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide environment. This CO2 can come from an external source (carbonic maceration) or the fruit at the bottom of the tank starting a classic alcoholic fermentation.

The carbonic maceration needs smaller tanks to prevent fruit from being crushed in the tank.
The maceration is very short between 4 days (Beaujolais Nouveau) and 20 days after the winemaker gets the juice and presses the grape. The two methods are used to produce fruity wine very typical of the Beaujolais style.

But these two methods are very recent. Intracellular fermentation was described first by Louis Pasteur at the end of the 19th century. In the middle of the 20th century, Michel Flanzy and Jules Chauvet, developed the technic used today.

During the carbonic maceration, the fermentation starts inside the fruits. The maceration must be done with whole grapes. The grapes must be manually harvested. The outcome is a characteristic taste for the wine, freshness, low alcohol, and a fruit aroma.

Before that, Beaujolais was produced traditionally, by use of classical maceration. The taste of the wine must have been different than today.

Appelations

There are 12 appellations in the Beaujolais.

AOC Beaujolais, covering 7000 h in all the region, the appelation produce red, rosé and white wine, and primeur wine (red and rosé). It produces also mentions « supérieur ».

AOC Beaujolais Villages, 5100 h, in the north of the region. This appellation produces Red, Rosé, and White and also primeur wines.

Then came the « Crus » of Beaujolais, 10 appellations corresponding to 10 villages in the north or the region. Wines produced in these appellation is considered more qualitative than other Beaujolais appellation.

  • Saint-Amour, in the extreme north of the region, has light and fine wine.
  • Julenias, The most powerful Beaujolais appellation.
  • Chénas, the smallest appellation (240 h only), Floral and fruity wine with often spice.
  • Moulin à Vent is the most complex wine in the region.
  • Fleurie, distintive flower aroma.
  • Chirouble, The higher altitude of the region. Fruity wine.
  • Morgon is rich and powerful wine (Marcel Lapierre and Jean Foillard are the best examples of winemakers of Morgon).
  • Regnié, the youngest cru, produces light and fruity wines. It’s the youngest Beaujolais appellation.
  • Brouilly, produces fruity full-bodied wines.
  • Côtes de Brouilly, powerful wines.

Grapes

Gamay is the king grape variety in Beaujolais. Whenever we talk about Gamay we think about Beaujolais. It’s a historic thing, Gamay had been excommunicated in the Bourgogne region, its native place, during the Middle Ages and ended in the Beaujolais next door.

Today, Gamay is growing in practically 99% of the region.

But other varieties are permitted for red wine production; Aligoté, Chardonnay, Gamay de Bouze, Gamay de Chaudenay, Melon, Pinot gris, and Pinot Noir. But the usage of these varieties is exceptional. For white wine, only Chardonnay is permitted, and white Beaujolais account for 4% of the total production of the region.

Winemakers can use these last varieties but the appellation will change to vin de Pays des Gaules

Natural wine birthplace

The Beaujolais region is not only famous for its primeur wine, but it’s also the birthplace of the modern natural wine movement. In the 60s, four winemakers of the region, were Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Charly Thevenet, and Guy Breton. They were known as la Bande des Quattres (the gang of four). They get their inspiration from Jules Chauvet. Their goals were to get rid of all the chemical that was used since the middle of the century. Shortly the movement spread across the Bourgogne region next door and then to the rest of the world.

Beaujolais Nouveau

I have already written a few things about Beaujolais Nouveau. This celebration, occurring every third Thursday of November, seems to be an ancestral tradition, but it is totally wrong. The modern form of Beaujolais Nouveau, the one known around the world is the product of a genius marketing move in the 70s from a wine merchant from the region, Georges Duboeuf. It’s all about communication.

Beaujolais Nouveau is made in the entire area of the Beaujolais appellation, except for the 10 cru appellations, with Gamay (with or without other authorized varieties) using carbonic maceration. About 450 000 HL of Beaujolais nouveau is produced each year, it is the third of the production of Beaujolais. 40% of the wine is exported.

Until recently, the wine was often pretty bad, except for some producers. Winemakers used industrial yeast and another artificial process to produce the wine. Finally, sales declined during the 2000s. Wines started to improve after that. You can easily find very good Beaujolais Nouveau from natural winemakers.