Beaujolais for drinking at release?

It was long my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that the beauty of Beaujolais was that they were so appealing and approachable at release. Get 'em, drink 'em. More and more now, however, it seems to me that there’s a trend in these houses making wines with more structure that will seriously benefit from ageing. There was a recent TN in CT on the 2018 Thivin in which the taster reported it to be, “…brutally young and backward…” and this is a taster I respect. Perhaps it’s just the top Domaines and I’m not buying the right ones for near-term drinking. I don’t want to have to age every wine I buy. I’d like to be able to buy and drink some great Bojo young.

What are your recommended Beaujolais for drinking at release?

It would be easier to name the few that do require time, in my opinion. Most of the good ones drink extremely well on release. I would not be buying Thivin or Roilette Cuvee Tardive to drink young. Other than those (and probably a couple that I’m not aware of or not thinking of), I don’t see any need to wait. That said, I prefer mine with some age on them, but I always open a bottle or 3 while they’re young, too.

I haven’t had any from the recent solar vintages but typically I’ve enjoyed the wines of Lapalu a lot young. Try his Bojo-Villages Tentation for simple glou-glou fun or Brouilly La Croix des Rameaux if you want something more serious yet still immensely drinkable.

Absolutely everything that is made via carbonic maceration (I think). Usually that is labeled Beaujolais Nouveau. Are any board favorites made with carbonic maceration? One that might age but is so cheap and delicious as I haven’t tried to is Domaine De Robert Fleurie Cuvée Tradition. On the top end (e.g. board favorites) I feel like I treat it like Oregon pinot noir. It’s great right out of the gate, then shuts down, then comes roaring back in six to seven years or so.

I disagree on both points. The 2 wines I referenced as needing age are both made with semi-carbonic maceration. Neither is Nouveau.

Do you mean that it would be harder for you to name more than a few that do require time? Just clarifying…

What are the better examples of Beaujolais Nouveau?

Yes, exactly. While many will develop nicely if aged, I’ve had very few good ones that aren’t delicious right out of the gate. I was even thinking about including Daniel Bouland in my short list because there’s so much unrealized potential there when I taste them on release, but I couldn’t because they’re already so good at that stage that I think the value is great for buying and drinking immediately.

I love my Beaujolais baby fresh. Like my Kabinett!

And I’m not talking Nouveau, I’m talking the Crus.

I only hold a select few for more serious aging, like Roilette.

Trust Doug. I really don’t know. I’m here to learn. At what point is partial carbonic maceration different than whole cluster or partial whole cluster?

That’s a more complicated question than I can answer.

I’m definitely a noob in the Beaujolais world, but perhaps some of this is what one finds enjoyable? I’ve found plenty to love in young Crus, but my palate is currently enjoying high acid, minerality, aromatics and bright fruit. This current affliction might be why I listen to Alfert [wink.gif] I’ve laid down some Tardive to check on later, but I’ve loved Thivin young in a couple of vintages. For the more experienced palates: what’s different in flavor profile, etc… young vs. old for a Cru? I know, I know - super-broad question. But might help with OP’s question.

Often a matter of bottlings as much as producer. I’ve usually found the plain Thivin Brouilly approachable early. Also the Desvignes Morgon “La Voute St Vincent,” the Chermette Beaujolais “Cuvee Traditionnelle”, the JP Brun L’Ancien, the Lapierre Morgon.

I agree. I prefer the fresher style, which is making these hot vintages tough. Thivin, particularly the Brouilly (as opposed to the CdB) drinks well young and then keeps drinking well for quite awhile. Both Johan and Lucien Lardy make wines that I think drink well young. Denogent’s Cuvee Jules Chauvet has excellent freshness. Lapierre’s Raisins Gaulois isn’t even classified as Beajolais I don’t think, but it’s another good choice.

I am strongly in agreement with Doug, it’s easier to list the ones that require patience and will show their best with some bottle age. So for me that’s many of the “super-cuvees” (3.14, L’Ultime, Cuvée Marcel Lapierre, & Tardive). Ironically the Greffe du Marquis drinks beautifully on release…but the Tardive does show the best with 8-12 years bottle age. The 2009’s are in a weird space…but many other vintages are drinking well. The 96’s if you can find one…almost as good as aged Burgundy. (I’m going to get flack for that from the Burg-heads…because they are different…but there’s a reason it’s called “poor-man’s Burgundy”.

It was long my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that the beauty of Beaujolais was that they were so appealing and approachable at release. Get 'em, drink 'em. More and more now, however, it seems to me that there’s a trend in these houses making wines with more structure that will seriously benefit from ageing.

Brandon - I think your understanding is incorrect. There has been Beaujolais - I’m assuming you mean Gamay, that aged well as long as there has been Pinot Noir that aged well. In times past most wines were consumed young in part because they didn’t have bottles. So you keep tapping the barrel and by next vintage, your wine was pretty oxidized. But the Romans planted grapes there and some of the place names reflect their Roman origins.

In the early 1900s, a few French chemists were playing around with carbonic fermentation and eventually, someone in Beaujolais realized that it would be perfect for the abundant grapes that grew in the low-lying areas and that produced a lighter wine that was historically sent to nearby Lyon for consumption in the various bistros and cafés. Historically, Lyon was the market for much of the wine from Beaujolais because it had a big population that was based on the silk trade and was consequently relatively wealthy, in addition to being close by. But the wines from the various crus had been respected for centuries. Those are in the hills, whereas the cheaper wines come from the valley floor. France instituted the AOC system and I believe they awarded the first designation to Roquefort cheese, but when they added wine in 1936, Beaujolais was one of the first to be designated.

The idea that Beaujolais is to be consumed young came about only because the fashion for carbonic maceration in the late 1900a allowed the producers to create friendly, light, fruity, inexpensive wines that could be consumed very soon. The great négociant Duboeuf was able to create enough interest in the nouveau wines that it became a world wide fad to get them as soon as they were released.

But that’s never been the basis for the reputation of the region.

Wines from the region in the south are just called Beaujolais. But in the northern areas there are wines named after various villages, called Beaujolais-Villages, and those have always been respected.The ten villages in the north that are reputed to make the best Beaujolais can classify their wines as Grands Crus. Those have been age-worthy as long as such wines existed. Partly as a reaction to the fame that the region got for the young wines, and to make sure people knew that there was more than nouveau, in the 1980s the so-called “Gang of Four” began to promote their wines as “natural” “traditional” etc. But that didn’t mean they all eschew carbonic maceration. Just that they had a reputation that went back centuries.

Remember that in virtually every wine making region, there are wines that are produced for immediate consumption. I know people in Pic St Loup who make expensive Syrah but they also do a bit via carbonic maceration because they like the freshness it gives their wine. Many producers in Beaujolais do a combination and in fact, it’s sometimes difficult not to because while the top grapes are fermenting internally, those on the bottom of the tank get crushed and commence fermentation via yeast, rather than intracellular breakdown. And then some also combine whole cluster, partial whole cluster, etc.

Producers to look for include Brun, Chermette, Lapierre, Lapalu, Thévenet, Foillard, Breton, and Duboeuf. Domaine de Fa is a project of Alain Graillot, but I haven’t had the wine.

Great post but a couple of points:

  • “Beaujolais Nouveau” was really just a commercialization of an existing practice that was historically common in all European wine producing regions: the local sale of just-fermented wines, still primary and full of CO2 from fermentation, known as “primeur” wines. Just-fermented Gamay can be utterly delicious, but to make a wine like this stable for export requires considerable processing, so whatever wine makes it more than a few hours from the region is unlikely to be interesting. But in itself, the “Nouveau” phenomenon is not inherently linked to carbonic maceration and indeed predates the term and the practice.

  • Strict carbonic maceration is when you gas fill the tank with intact grape clusters, gas it with CO2, and close the top; meanwhile, you leave the valve at the bottom open so that any juice that’s liberated drains out. The grapes ferment enzymatically, with as little as possible skins-in-juice maceration, and obviously no punching down or pumping over: the carbon dioxide protects the fruit from oxidation as it ferments. Strict carbonic maceration in this sense only really became popular in the 1980s, and it is popular with many of the natural wine producers, who shruggingly refer to it as “carbo”.

  • In the Beaujolais, many producers talk of “semi-carbonic maceration”. But this can mean a variety of things. Jean Foillard, for example, does what is in many respects carbonic maceration as described above - except he doesn’t close the valve at the bottom, and over the course of a three week maceration there is obviously some skin-to-juice contact. But the terms has also been retrospectively applied to what is also known as the “vinification Beaujolaise”, or the traditional winemaking method of the region. That’s whole clusters in tanks, trodden to release juice, and then allowed to ferment, with a wooden grill employed to keep the cap submerged in the fermenting must. In some cases, instead of a submerged cap, the cap would be broken by pigeage twice a day, or producers will pump over. This is quite similar, at least as far as the rudiments are concerned, to traditional winemaking in Burgundy (at domaines that retain whole bunches), the Jura, and in parts of the Rhône (e.g. Côte-Rôtie), and no doubt elsewhere.

  • A slightly retentive point is that Beaujolais-Villages is actually an AOC between straight Beaujolais and the crus. “Villages” is plural, as in e.g. “Côte de Nuits-Villages” or “Mâcon-Villages”, because many communes are entitled to this appellation. Most, but not all, are in the north. But one of the best, La Pérreon, with very steep slopes and the same pink granite as Fleurie, is in the south. I think all producers are actually allowed to hyphenate the commune with the word Beaujolais if the wine comes from a single commune, e.g. “Beaujolais-Lantignié”. Whereas in the Mâconnais that right is actually another level of the hierarchy, meaning the source (e.g. Mâcon-Fuissé) is a step up from generic Mâcon-Villages. For me, the high quality of Beaujolais-Villages from good producers makes these some of the best QPRs in the region: you are getting really interesting terroir and good winemaking for only a small premium over generic Beaujolais from flat agricultural land that was only planted with vines in the aftermath of the ill-advised Nouveau boom.

As others have said, it’s easier to name the exceptions that will improve with age than the reverse. But here are a few favorites, focussing on Beaujolais-Villages rather than the crus proper.

  • Domaine du Vissoux / Chermette Beaujolais-Villages Coeur de Vendanges
  • Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais-Villages Les Vignes de Lantignié
  • Alexandre Burgaud Beaujolais-Lantignié
  • Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Villages Le Perreon

In the more “nature” end of the spectrum:

  • Jean-Claude Lapalu Beaujolais-Villages Vieilles Vignes (one of my favorites)
  • Domaine Chapel Beaujolais-Villages
  • Alex Foillard Beaujolais-Villages
  • Famille Dutraive Beaujolais-Villages

Nice to see you mention Alexandre Burgaud’s Beaujolais Lantignié William. I went to visit him in 2017 and he was a delightful young man making some crackingly good wines from his 70+ and 100 year old vines. The pricing has crept up a little since then but they are still wonderful value and soooo drinkable.

#nerds. neener

But at least you guys are cool nerds and posted some great stuff to read!