The World of Cru Beaujolais
What Makes Cru Beaujolais Special?
Like any other Old World wine region, Beaujolais has a deep, rich history. We’ll explore that in detail with lots of pictures and maps during the Zoom webinar/tasting, but here are the basics:
Post WWII, Bojo was struggling to recover economically and to find a voice in the greater wine world. The solution was to push the production of Beaujolais Nouveau, a fruity and fun, cheap and cheerful wine meant to be consumed only a few months after harvest. In the subsequent decades, the region became synonymous with this wine, especially in The States, where the release of Beaujolais Nouveau in November was promoted like a holiday.
Somewhere along the way the producers in Beaujolais realized that in marketing terms, they had put all their eggs in one basket. They were producing the wine equivalent of bubblegum teeny pop, and they were only really selling it for one weekend per year. A victim of it’s own hype, the region became so deeply associated with Beaujolais Nouveau in the minds of consumers, that when drinking styles changed in the 1980s and 1990s, Bojo became an afterthought. Most people had no idea that there were actually a few producers in the Cru Villages making serious, real-deal red wine with Gamay.
Four of these young Cru Bojo winemakers (Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thenevent, and Guy Breton) had been studying under Jules Chauvet, a chemist and winemaker from neighbouring Lyon. Chauvet was a guru of back to basics, hands-on winemaking in the 1950s and 1960s when everyone was using automation and chemical fertilizers. A couple decades later, in the 1980s and 1990s, these four students of Chauvet (dubbed the ‘Gang of Four’ by US Importer Kermit Lynch) were crafting beautiful wines from within the Crus of Beaujolias using natural methods and cultivating with a real respect for the land.
The Gang of Four were working at a time when Bojo didn’t have the best reputation, Cru or otherwise. It took the help of a famous Beaujolais resident to put them on the map. Chef Daniel Bulud, who was raised on a farm in the area started to serve these wines (sometimes blind) at his Michelin-starred restaurants around the globe. People from New York, to London to Tokyo were having their minds blown by Cru Bojo, and for good reason. These wines shared many of the same flavours and aromas as the prestige reds from Burgundy and Rhone, but unlike these prestige wines, Cru Beaujolias is ready to drink RIGHT NOW. Sure, you can age these wines to highlight the savoury herbal, floral and spice aromas (Morgon & Moulin-a-Vent are especially age-worthy), but at their best, all the wines of Cru Beaujolais have a temporal versatility that is found in very few high-end red wines. You can drink it the day you buy it, or you can put it in the cellar for 5 or 10 years. Either way you’re almost guaranteed to have a great wine experience.
Production Methods
Carbonic Maceration - This technique is what Beaujolais is famous for. First identified in the 1870s by Louis Pastuer (who, if you remember from our Jura webinar was BIG into wine science), carbonic
maceration is an intercellular process where sugars are converted to ethanol without any intervention from yeasts. It happens all over the plant kingdom. Carbonic could be considered the first stage in fruit decomposition. It’s the reason squirrels will get drunk from eating old crabapples (do yourself a favour and go down that YouTube rabbit hole). In the winemaking world, it gives grapes an extra depth of fruity flavour. Whole un-pressed grapes are collected and stored in a large vat with carbon dioxide (to keep them from oxidizing and ACTUALLY rotting). This could last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. The grapes are then pressed and fermented using yeasts, just like any other wine would be. Carbonic maceration is never used with white wine (we looked hard, couldn’t find anyone doing it), and while it is used in small amounts in a few other wine regions, Beaujolais is known as the region where this technique really shines.
Whole Cluster Inclusion/Fermentation - Fermenting the grapes with their stems and seeds mixed in with the juice is something we’ve seen a lot, all over the planet. It usually imparts a woodsy, herbal character to the wine because, well you’re literally fermenting the juice with sticks in it. It’s a great way to add a little something extra to a wine. It’s used so much in Beaujolais (usually only at Cru level) because it goes hand-in-hand nicely with carbonic maceration. Leaving the grapes on their stems during the carbonic maceration ensures that more of the grapes stay whole. If you pluck a grape off the stem, there is a little hole in the berry where oxygen and yeast can get in, and juice can get out. Most Cru Beaujolias begins it’s life as a big open vat of whole clusters of grapes. Whether these whole clusters are de-stemmed before primary fermentation is up to the winemaker. Cru Bojo usually sees very little filtration. Microscopic pieces of stem and seed will make it into the final product and usually show themselves as rustic, round tannins.
The Crus of Beaujolias
Beaujolias is directly south of Burgundy. The 10 Cru villages are all in the northern part of the region, along with the best elevation. Lyon, France’s gastronomic capital (yeah, we said it!) is about 30kms south. Further south than that, are the Northern Rhone vineyards of Cote Rotie. This means that Bojo is at the geographic center of some of the best eating and drinking n the planet.
Saint Amour shares some of the same limestone soil as it’s northern neighbour Burgundy (rare in Bojo). Steep slopes, very little topsoil. Wines are light-bodied, with tart red fruit and lots of minerality.
Julienas was named 2000 years ago for Julius Caesar, this might be the most rugged Cru. Deeper topsoil than Saint Amour. Wines are powerful, dense and have rustic, full-bodied feel.
Chenas is one of the smallest and lesser known Crus (in North America at least). Lots of variation east to west. East is alluvial (layered gravel) soil, west is all pink granite. Soils are low in organic matter and high in mineral content. Wines are fleshy, with lots of black fruit and a peppery snap (like Rhone).
Moulin-a-Vent is perhaps the most famous Cru among French drinkers. Named after the local windmills (this area is WINDY!). Strong winds mean thicker grape skins, which in turn mean higher tannin, and longevity in the wines. While Moulin-a-Vent produces big wines which are great to cellar, they are also famously approachable in their youth, full of dark fruit and florality.
Fleurie. It might just be the name, but this is said to be the ‘prettiest’ of all the Crus. Historically used for rose and silkworm production, Fleurie has sandy soil and produces light and perfumed wines with lots of dark fruit and violet. Clos du la Roilette is famous in Fleurie because of it’s more pronounced structure, which aids in it’s longevity (even though it’s great to drink young too!)
Chiroubles has the highest elevation of the Crus. That elevation and the sandy soil (same as Fleurie) means that the vines are susceptible to vintage variation. Cool years don’t produce great Chiroubles, but lucky for Bojo aficionados, the temperature keeps rising every year. Chiroubles is said to be the Cru that is best positioned to deal with global warming. So keep an eye on it in the future.
Morgon remains probably the most famous Cru among North Americans. Soil is volcanic schist. Wines are dense and long-lived, with high alcohol, smooth texture with a pronounced savoury spice (no wonder Californians love them!). The best sites within Morgon are the “Cote de Py”, a famous subzone with soils of high iron and magnesium.
Reginie is the newest Cru (est 1988) is sometimes looked on unfavourably because it borders the lesser vineyards of the Beaujolais-Villages appellation. Light wines produced from light soil. But, “the best of them (Reginie wines), such as Guy Breton’s, have a firm core of minerality that gives them backbone and textural complexity.” (Rajat Parr in The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste).
Brouilly. The largest Cru, with perhaps the largest variation in styles due to different soil types. Schist and clay are found here, as well as a little bit of limestone. Wines are textured, and generally good value, but again will vary in quality and style. Most are best consumed young.
Cote de Brouilly is a large hill of blue volcanic rock that rises up from within the larger area of Brouily. These wines are showstoppers. Dark blue and black fruit, spice, with a plush mouth feel. Great longevity, usually good value in comparison to more well known Crus.
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