Beaujolais Breakdown Flashcards
The Growing Environment and Grape Growing
Beaujolais has a continental climate, slightly warmer than the rest of Burgundy. There is normally adequate rainfall for grape growing (740 mm per year). The Saone River acts as a moderator of extreme temperatures. The region is subject to cold Mistral winds that can affect flowering in cold, damp early summer weather.
The northern part of the region (where both Beaujolais Cru AOCs and Beaujolais-Villages AOC are found) is hilly (200–500 m) and has fast-draining granite, schist and sandy soils
Winemaking
Gamay noir - main grape. early budding, early ripening. productive. often bush trained.
Chardonnay is usually found in area in the north of Beaujolais bordering the Mâcon Villages appellation. It does best on cooler marl or limestone soils that slow down ripening, preserving acidity.
The majority of Beaujolais is made by semi-carbonic maceration
Nouveau - can be labelled Beaujolais Nouveau AOC or Beaujolais Villages Nouveau AOC depending on where the fruit is grown. bottled 3–5 days after fermentation has finished. Some wines go through malolactic conversion; others do not. Fining and sterile filtration are common as is a moderate to high use of SO2
Appellations, Wine Law and Regulations
Beaujolais AOC - regional appellation covering the whole area but, in practice, the vineyards are in the south of the region as those in the north of the region are in the Beaujolais Villages area. 60hl/ha.
Beaujolais Villages AOC - An individual village name may be put on the label if grapes are sourced from that village but usually the wine is labelled as Beaujolais Villages. This appellation sits alongside the cru AOCs
Beaujolais Cru AOC - ten individual crus with their own AOCs in the northern part of the region, for red wines only.
Brouilly AOC – the most southern and marginally warmer area, producing wines in a lighter, more perfumed style
Chiroubles AOC – This is the cru at the highest altitude that produces lighter and fragrant wines with marked acidity.
Fleurie AOC – The southern part of this cru has sandy soils producing lighter and more fragrant wine (which is the reputation of the appellation), while towards the north, next to Moulin-à-Vent where the soils have more clay, the wines become heavier, have lower acidity and are more full-bodied.
Moulin-à-Vent AOC – This appellation produces the most powerful and long-lived wines, closer in style to Côte d’Or red wines than to most other Beaujolais.
Morgon AOC – This includes wines from fruit grown on the south-facing Côte de Py vineyard, part of appellation, that tend to have pronounced intensity black cherry fruit alongside red fruit, and sufficient tannins to age for a decade in bottle.
As land prices are cheaper in Beaujolais than in the Côte d’Or the region has attracted investment from Burgundy growers looking to diversify. This has helped drive quality in the region and encouraged the trend away from carbonic maceration and the increased use of oak, especially in the Beaujolais Crus.
Wine Business
60 per cent of Beaujolais is sold in France and 40 per cent is exported. The top three export markets make up more than 60 per cent of the export sales. They are Japan (with a huge preference for the Nouveau style), USA and UK (with a preference for Villages and Crus).
