I find myself drinking more and more cru Beaujolais. That said, its all been from just 3 of the 10 crus: Fleurie (Chignard) when I want something delicate and floral, Morgan (Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard) when I want something fruity and structured, and Côte de Brouilly (Thivin, Nicole Chanrion) when I’m looking for something between. That leaves a boatload of producers and 7 crus untouched (Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Chiroubles, Régnié, and Brouilly).
What am I missing? Do you have any favorites I haven’t listed that characterize each of the crus?
We import the wines of Perrachon into Australia, so I hope I don’t get accused of shilling, but the Laurent Perrachon Juliénas - Les Vignes Centenaires is a wonderful Juliénas. Try the '15 or '16, both brilliant wines off 100+ year old vines.
Saint Amour - Domaine des Billards, Famille Dutraive
Juliénas - Domaine Chapel (pretty new)
Chénas - Thillardon
Moulin-à-Vent - Diochon, Chermette / Vissoux, Desjourneys (now with no new oak), Château de Jacques (in a more oaky, Côte d’Or-style that needs time)
Fleurie - Dutraive, Coudert (needs time), Lafarge-Vial, Marc Delienne (quite new), Métras, Domaine de Prion (Chanudet), Desjourneys (again, now with no new oak) plus plenty of others
Chiroubles - Daniel Bouland, Damien Coquelet
Morgon - Daniel Bouland, Louis-Claude Desvignes, Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet, Burgaud (with some recently-used oak in the equation for some bottlings), Grange Cochard. Lapierre I find a bit inconsistent these days.
Régnié - Antoine Sunier
Côte de Brouilly - Thivin, Pierre Cotton, Lapalu
Brouilly - Alex Foillard, Pierre Cotton, Thivin, Lapalu
Don’t forget Beaujolais Villages: Lapalu, Jean-Luc Longère, Chermette / Vissoux, Brun. Some great terroirs down there that can rival and surpass the crus in good hands. Unfortunately the economics are very marginal.
Given the different techniques and philonhopies of these producers, the notion of any being “representative” is something of a can of worms, but I would list these as some of the best exponents. I have probably omitted some important addresses.
Ashley Hausman, MW (along with Doug Frost, MS MW, and Mary Margaret McCamic, MW) is hosting a cru Beaujolais tasting - titled “Dear Burgundy, Lighten Up. Love, Beaujolais.” at the Boulder Burgundy Festival in November. They will pour representatives from all 10 crus.
"The panel will be discussing the region and its terroir. Topics will include geography, climate, soil types, wine making techniques and philosophy used in Beaujolais. We will taste 10 top quality examples from each of the cru vineyards. This will be an amazing opportunity to learn about this exciting Burgundy region. Beaujolais is currently experiencing an amazing renaissance and this seminar will offer a comprehensive dive into this fast moving region.
Fleurie, Morgon, M-a-V are the easy ones. For the trickier ones I like:
Billards for St. Amour
Coquelet for Chiroubles
Thivin to me is the best CdB/Brouilly (okay, not tricky, I just really like the wines)
Sunier bros for Regnie
I’ll add Rochette for Régnié, Michel Tête for Juliénas, Laurence et Remi Dufaitre (Domaine de Botheland) for Côte de Brouilly, and Dutraive for Brouilly.
Thanks all, for the recommendations. I’ll seek these out.
Serendipitously, Flatiron Wines just sent out an offering for 2017 Julien Sunier wines, one each from Fleurie, Morgon, and Régnié. Sounds like an educational way to remove the winemaker’s touch and taste just the cru itself:
Julien has only been making his own wine for 10 years, after securing some old, densely planted parcels in Fleurie, Morgon, and Régnié. He immediately began converting them to organic farming, and seized upon the way each of these plots produced different, and unique wines.
Tasting his '17s, we were struck by how much each cuvée reflects the typicité of its village—how “typical” a representation of its terroir it offered. The Morgon, classically powerful, with notes of licorice and dark cherry. The Fleurie, delicate and aromatic with crushed violets and strawberries, as it should be. The Régnié, full of red berry fruit and finely integrated tannins, was concentrated but still fresh.
Given that hail was quite localised, despite some ferocity, that’s quite a broad statement, it’s a pretty great vintage from what I’ve tasted so far. Or was that just a comment on Julien’s wines…?
Though he is far from the only person to be affected, it was a comment on Julien’s wines: while very good, they’re not as satiny and seductive as they have been in vintages such as '14 and '15.
Out of curiosity, did you meet anyone in Fleurie who wasn’t affected?
I did quite a lot of Brouilly/CdBrouilly 17s in July - and of-course BJ Nouveau and BJV Nouveau last year - but will mainly be tasting 2017s in February so will ask them then…
Ah, well that makes more sense. I did around 650 wines during two weeks in June, with forty or so domaine visits, and there was a lot of talk of hail in many of the crus. Andrew Jefford has some good quotes on the subject here Beaujolais 2017: Talent under the cosh - Andrew Jefford - Decanter. Of course, hail is not destiny: Côte du Py was hit twice yet Foillard made his best Côte du Py for some time. But it is certainly a factor in making what’s otherwise an excellent (and quite 2011-like) vintage more heterogenous.