TN: 2020 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly Les Sept Vignes (ft. the highest alcohol % I've ever seen in Beaujolais!)

In Ontario, most wine must go through laboratory testing by our provincial monopoly and if the alcohol differs by more than a percentage, the importer must add a supplemental label indicating the true ABV%.

Well, folks: the hastily-added sticker tells me this wine contains a scintillating 15.3% ABV! (Over top of the 13.5% listed on the label, natch.)

There’s certainly some richness here, but the alcohol is carried well by the fruit. Lots of typicité. Dark red and some purple fruit with a touch of graphite minerality and a really appealing earthy/savoury underpinning on the nose. Yes, there’s a little heat there as well, but it’s not overwhelming. The palate is much of the same and certainly doesn’t lack for any lift or acid; well balanced, with a bit of structuring tannin to knit it all together. It’s absolutely delicious, but I admit that seeing Beaujolais wines clock in north of 15% alcohol is - ironically - a bit sobering.

3 Likes

Thanks for the note and the report on the lab measured ABV. I’ve got one of these on deck in the near future that I picked up to fill up a case. I knew it was going to be ripe, but over 15% is quite something. Now I am even more curious to try it.

I’m just impressed there’s a French wine that puts (what I assume is) an accurate alcohol percentage on the bottle.

Sean,

If you want to get lots of thank yous, start a threat identifying wines that you see that required re-labeling for alcohol percentage. Especially board favorites. That would be great fun!

1 Like

Note that Sean said the LCBO does it’s own testing, and put their 15.3% result over the producer’s 13.5% [wow.gif]

Like Alan said, definitely not! The 13.5% on the label may have been a touch misleading.

Sobering if you’ve been drinking Amarone or Vintage Port. You might want to drink yourself sober with a Kabinett Riesling or something a bit lighter Sean.

Ha, I read the OP too quickly and overlooked that nuance.

It’s notable how often WBers tout the 12.5% and 13% on French labels, when who the hell really knows what the actual alcohol is on those.

1 Like

Wow. You say it’s carried well, and I love Thivin, but I’m skeptical that this would enjoyable for my tastes. All too often, recent Beaujolais vintages are becoming complete passes for me.

This. I find 2018 overbearing as is.

With the U.S. labeling standards on alcohol percentage being +/- 1.5%, I think we all assume that the producer is lying to the low end once the wine is tasted and found to taste more alcoholic than the label.

The only Thivin I’ve had is the 2007 from magnum and it seems to be reasonably close to the 13.5% on the label.

This. Most Bojos above 13% seem to lack the bright, crunchy fruit I adore in the region’s wines.

Do this mean that many of us who thought we only liked wines with moderat alcohol levels in fact also like wines with higher alcohol levels, as long as it’s a balanced wine?

Perhaps, or perhaps it means many wines’ ABV levels are understated, in which case I’d certainly rather start with one labeled at 13.5% than 14.5% or 15%.

I think it just means Beaujolais is changing. I have to suspect they’ll see attrition amongst longtime buyers, but the new product may have broader appeal in the end.

I understand your concern - this certainly isn’t the aforementioned crunchy and lifted red fruit of years past - but it does feel like ALL the knobs on the EQ have been turned up, if that makes any sense. Yes, it’s got body and richness but there’s lots of drive, freshness, and length that has kept pace alongside. Still a really nice drink.

I think quality producers who take what the vintages give them in this new climate-change driven era of winemaking will be successful.

You are right about the impact of the climate changing.

I wouldn’t know if 2020 is higher in alcohol than some of the other recent years. If not for the Canadian testing we would all think of this as a medium/low(er) alcohol wine, probably. Possibly some of the other recent hot vintages carried similar alcohol levels (?). I believe EU regulations allow for something like 0,5% deviation in the labeling btw, could happen that another % is mentioned on bottles destined for Europe.

In that light I found this insight interesting as I am sure most of us drank this and/or similar vintages with the (incorrect?) expectation of relatively lower alcohol levels. Did it impact how we perceived the wine - in many cases I can imagine it will/would (positively in favor of the wine).

I had a 2015 Sept Vignes less than a month ago, had high(er) expectations (didn’t live up to them) but a higher alcohol than mentioned on the bottle wasn’t something that crossed my mind. I was more missing the energy and vibrancy to get me excited.

Sean - Do you have access to the regular 2020 Brouilly? It is listed as 14.1% ABV in the states.

I confess I’m rather liking Beaujolais in recent years precisely because the fruit is a little lusher and less crunchy than it has previously been. I order it off wine lists when dining with non-Berserkers and they all love it

Makes sense, I realize I do have somewhat of an AFWE palate.