Beaujolais ( , ) is a French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine in the Burgundy region. Red Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannin, but like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites, 1% of production, are made mostly with Chardonnay, though Aligoté was also permitted until 2024. Beaujolais tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high acidity. In some vintages, Beaujolais produces more wine than the Burgundy wine regions of Chablis, Côte d'Or, Côte Chalonnaise, and Mâconnais put together.J. Robinson (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Wine (Third Ed.), pp. 72–74. Oxford University Press, 2006. .
The wine takes its name from the historical Province of Beaujolais. It is located north of Lyon, in the departments of Rhône and Saône-et-Loire. While administratively part of the Burgundy wine region, the climate is closer to that of the Rhône, and the wine is sufficiently individual in character to be considered apart from Burgundy and Rhône. The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, for the use of carbonic maceration, and more recently for the popular Beaujolais nouveau.
History The region of Beaujolais was first cultivated by the Romans who planted the areas along its trading route up the Saône valley. The most noticeable Roman vineyard was Brulliacus located on the hillside of Mont Brouilly. The Romans also planted vineyards in the area around Morgon. From the 7th century through the Middle Ages, most of the viticulture and winemaking was done by the Benedictine monks. In the 10th century, the region got its name from the town of Beaujeu and was ruled by the Lords of Beaujeu until the 15th century when it was ceded to the Duchy of Burgundy. The wines from Beaujolais were mostly confined to the markets along the Saône and Rhône, particularly in the city of Lyon. The expansion of the French railroad system in the 19th century opened up the lucrative Paris market. The first mention of Beaujolais wines in English followed soon after when Cyrus Redding described the wines of Moulin-à-Vent and Saint-Amour as being low-priced and best consumed young.
In the 1980s, Beaujolais hit a peak of popularity in the world's wine market with its Beaujolais nouveau wine. Spurred on by the creative marketing from wine merchants such as Georges Duboeuf, demand outpaced supply for the easy-drinking, fruity wines. As more Beaujolais producers tried to capitalize on the "Nouveau craze", production of regular Beaujolais dropped and an eventual backlash occurred in the late 1990s and early 21st century. By this point, the whole of Beaujolais wine had developed a negative reputation among consumers who associated Gamay based wines with the slightly sweet, simple light bodied wines that characterized Beaujolais Nouveau. Producers were left with a wine surplus that French authorities compelled them to reduce through mandatory distillation. In response, there has been renewed emphasis on the production of more complex wines that are aged longer in oak barrels prior to release. Recent years have seen a rise in the number of terroir driven estate-bottled wines made from single vineyards or in one of the Cru Beaujolais communes, where the name of the commune is allowed to be displayed on the label.
Gamay grape
Gamay noir is a cross of pinot noir and the ancient white variety Gouais, a Central European variety that was probably introduced to northeastern France by the Romans. The grape brought relief to the village growers following the decline of the Black Death. Gamay ripened two weeks earlier than Pinot Noir and was easier to grow. It also produced a strong, fruitier wine in a much larger abundance. In July 1395, the Duke of Burgundy, Philippe the Bold, outlawed the cultivation of Gamay as being "a very bad and disloyal plant", due in part to the variety occupying land that could be used for the more "elegant" pinot noir. Sixty years later, Philippe the Good issued another edict against Gamay, in which he stated that the reason for the ban was because "[t]he Dukes of Burgundy are known as the lords of the best wines in Christendom. We will maintain our reputation".H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pp. 133–134, Simon and Schuster 1989 . The edicts had the effect of pushing Gamay plantings southward, out of the main region of Burgundy and into the granite-based soils of Beaujolais, where the grape thrived.
Scandals Following the 2001 vintage, over 1.1 million cases of Beaujolais wine (most of it Beaujolais Nouveau) had to be destroyed or distilled due to lackluster sales as part of a consumer backlash against the popularity of Beaujolais Nouveau. In an interview given to local newspaper Lyon Mag, French wine critic François Mauss claimed that the reason for the backlash was the poor quality of Beaujolais Nouveau that had flooded the market in recent decades. He claimed that Beaujolais producers had long ignored the warning signs that such a backlash was coming and continued to produce what Mauss termed "vin de merde" ("shit wine"). This triggered an outcry among Beaujolais producers, followed by an association of 56 cooperative producers filing a lawsuit against Lyon Mag for publishing Mauss's comments.
Rather than sue for libel, the producers sued under an obscure French law that punishes the denigration of French products. In January 2003, the court in Villefranche-sur-Saône found in favor of the Beaujolais producers and awarded USD$350,000, which would have put the small employee-owned publication out of business. The bad publicity garnered from the "shit wine case" was extensive, with several publications such as Le Monde, The Times, The New York Times and the Herald Tribune running critical or satirical articles in response to the court's decision. In 2005, the highest court of appeal reversed the decision and found that there was no cause for action against the publication; the Beaujolais winemakers were ordered to pay €2,000 (US$2,442) in court costs to Lyon Mag.
In 2005, the Vins Georges Duboeuf company was charged with mixing low-grade wine with better vintages after a patchy 2004 harvest.Samuel, Henry. (2006-07-05.) "King of Beaujolais is convicted over adulterated wines." (News website.) Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-10-04. Georges Duboeuf denied wrongdoing, blaming human error and pointing out that none of the affected wine was released to consumers. The production manager directly responsible admitted his actions and resigned, and a court found that both "fraud and attempted fraud concerning the origin and quality of wines" had been committed. Fewer than 200,000 liters of the company's annual 270 million liter production were implicated, but L'Affaire Duboeuf, as it was called, was considered a serious scandal.Walt, Vivienne: "The grapes of wrath." CNN.com, 2005-10-03. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
In December 2007, five people were arrested after reportedly selling nearly 600 tonnes of sugar to growers in Beaujolais. Up to 100 growers were accused of using the sugar for illegal chaptalization and also of exceeding volume quotas between 2004 and 2006.Trouble ferments in Beaujolais country Daily Telegraph, 19 December 2007.
Climate and geography
Beaujolais is a large wine-producing region, larger than any single district of Burgundy. There are over of vines planted in a stretch of land that is between 7 and wide (11 to 14 km).E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan "French Wine for Dummies" pp. 112-120, Wiley Publishing 2001 . The historical capital of the province is Beaujeu and its economic capital is Villefranche-sur-Saône. Many Beaujolais vineyards are found in the hillsides on the outskirts of Lyon in the eastern part of the region along the Saône valley. The Massif Central is to the west and has a tempering influence on the climate. The region is south of the Mâconnais, with a small overlap in AOC borders: growers in specific areas may produce white wines under the Saint-Véran AOC (Mâconnais) or red wines under the Beaujolais AOC.
The climate of Beaujolais is semi-continental with some temperate influences. The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea does impart some Mediterranean influence on the climate. The region is overall, warmer than Burgundy with vines that consistently fully ripen grapes. By the time that the Beaujolais Nouveau is released in late November, the foothills in the western regions will have normally seen snow. A common viticultural hazard is spring time frost.
The soils of Beaujolais divide the region into a northern and southern half, with the town of Villefranche serving as a near dividing point. The northern half of Beaujolais, where most of the Cru Beaujolais communes are located, includes rolling hills of schist and granite based soils with some limestone. On hillsides, most of the granite and schist is found in the upper slopes with the lower slopes having more stone and clay composition. The southern half of the region, also known as the Bas Beaujolais, has flatter terrain with richer, sandstone and clay based soils with some limestone patches. The Gamay grape fares differently in both regions-producing more structured, complex wines in the north and lighter, fruitier wines in the south. The angle of the hillside vineyards in the north exposes the grapes to more sunshine which leads to harvest at an earlier time than the vineyards in the south.
Appellations
The new rules for Beaujolais appellations were issued by INAO in 2011.CAHIER DES CHARGES DE L'APPELLATION D'ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE BEAUJOLAIS. There are 12 main appellations of Beaujolais wines covering the production of more than 96 villages in the Beaujolais region.K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pp. 220-225, Workman Publishing 2001 . They were originally established in 1936, with additional crus being promoted in 1938 and 1946, plus Régnié in 1988. About half of all Beaujolais wine is sold under the basic Beaujolais AOC designation. The majority of this wine is produced in the southern Bas Beaujolais region located around the town of Belleville. The minimum natural alcohol level for the grapes is 10%, and the maximum yield is 60 hl/ha (65 hl/ha for a bumper crop) The wine may be labeled as Beaujolais Supérieur in case the minimum natural alcohol level for the grapes is 10,5%, and the maximum yield is 58 hl/ha (63 hl/ha for a bumper crop). Exactly the same limits are effective for Beaujolais-Villages. Maximum chaptalization levels are established at 3 g/L (glucose + fructose).
is the most extended appellation allowed to be used in any of the 96 villages, but essentially covering 60 villages, and refers to all basic Beaujolais wines. A large portion of the wine produced under this appellation is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau. Annually, this appellation averages around 75 million bottles a year in production. Maximum level of sulfur dioxide in the Nouveau is limited at 100 mg/L.