Harvest in Julienas, Beaujolais, France.
The third Thursday in November used to be a date of note in the oenophile’s diary. Since 1985, it had been decreed as the official release date of Beaujolais Nouveau, an annual cause for celebration of the fruity, purple-tinged debutante.
The heyday of Beaujolais Nouveau has long since passed but at the higher-quality end of of the Beaujolais spectrum – Beaujolais-Villages and, in particular, Cru Beaujolais – improving wine quality (and increased recognition for it) is no less cause for celebration.
When the results of this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) were analysed, two Best in Show Beaujolais winners were revealed. The last time this region won a Best in Show was in 2022, for a Cru Fleurie.
This year there was also a Platinum winner and three Golds – an impressive medal haul, and one that builds on last year’s performance of three Gold medals. ‘This year’s double appearance (in a year when no red from further north in Burgundy came through the judging rounds) marks a step forward for this ever-more-significant wine region’, pronounced the judging panel.
Scroll down to explore Beaujolais’ top-awarded wines from DWWA 2024
Factors driving success
So what lies behind the success of this region? There are a number of factors, believes Dominique Vrigneau, Regional Chair for Beaujolais.
Looking back, Vrigneau recalls ‘the banana-y, Beaujolais Nouveau-style wines of 20 years ago’ – a flavour profile that was the result of carbonic maceration, traditional in this region, and that in some part came signify the quantity-before-quality style that caused lasting damage to Beaujolais’s reputation.
‘The sales gradually became worse and worse, and a lot of winemakers left production,’ he explained. ‘So now we have a lot less produced.’ Current vineyard area stands at about 14,500ha according to Inter-Beaujolais, down from a high of 23,000ha in the 1980s.
The second factor is that the (quality-focused) producers still in the game have migrated to the best terroirs in the region. ‘The lower, sandier soils have been taken out of production, so the selection you have now is from better soils’ – often on the higher, granitic-based slopes, said Vrigneau.
That change has brought another factor into play: ‘If you go to Beaujolais and look at the vineyards, you’ll see it’s all being trellised now.’ as vignerons move away from the traditional gobelet training system. Trellising is better suited to the steeper slopes, and makes it easier to spot rot and more easily assess grape quality come harvest-time.
The fourth factor has to do with what takes place in the winery. ‘Very few people do carbonic maceration now,’ Vrigneau says. ‘I know that you read about Beaujolais and carbonic maceration in all the books, but now it’s mostly Burgundy-type maceration.’
The fifth factor? ‘Global warming. There is no longer any chaptalisation required in Beaujolais.’
Another change has less to do with the physical aspects and all to do with mindset: a generation of quality-attuned, well-travelled younger winemakers who recognise the region’s potential and aren’t afraid of change.
Vrigneau describes these changes as ‘a convergence with Burgundy’ – and that convergence extends to price. ‘There have been gradual, incremental improvements to the point that, today, Beaujolais is highly in demand, but the prices are going up – quite a lot’ Vrigneau sums up.
True to the Crus
To anyone who hasn’t tasted (or purchased) Beaujolais lately, these changes may come as a surprise. What’s less surprising about this year’s DWWA results is that all six of the Best in Show, Platinum and Gold winners are Beaujolais Crus, from the hilly northern part of the region, just south of Mâcon.
Among the Best in Show, Platinum and Gold awards, six of the ten Beaujolais Crus are represented – Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Juliénas, Brouilly, Régnié and…
Source : https://www.decanter.com.master.public.keystone-prod-eks-euw1.futureplc.engineering/decanter-world-wine-awards/beaujolais-rising-an-ever-more-significant-wine-region-539042/
