When you hear cru Beaujolais, think yay!
Despite some perceptions to the contrary, cru Beaujolais wines can be extremely rewarding wines. The region is in flux and home to some leading makers of “natural” wines. Check out my current piece over on Forbes.com! And when you hear “cru Beaujolais,” don’t say “no way!” as a friend recently did.
I mention Lapierre, Foillard, Thivin, Descombes as some of the excellent 2007s that I had recently. What are some of your favorites? Or do you fall in the “no way” camp?
Aug
14
2009
On August 14th, 2009 at 8:34 am ,1WineDude wrote:
Some of the cru B’s are SOOOOO damn good…
I LOVE Morgon and Fluerie…
On August 14th, 2009 at 8:39 am ,Dylan wrote:
I like the way you described Beaujolais in the article. It does sort of act as that middle ground between the “carefree” whites and roses into the darker reds of the fall and winter. A great transition wine as the season shifts. Now that’s a concept, wine drinking according to the seasons. You should get on that, Tyler.
On August 14th, 2009 at 8:53 am ,Cassandra wrote:
Just spent an evening sharing burgers from the grill and a couple of bottles of cru Beaujolais with friends. Lovely!
On August 14th, 2009 at 10:11 am ,Billy Weiss wrote:
One thing that I like about well made Cru Beaujolais is its ability to age. I have had some very good examples of wines 10-20 years old.
The biggest problem with Beaujolais is a string of rained out vintages, and the persistence use of Thermal fermenters (not used by the best producers).
For what it is worth, I have been importing Beaujolais for years, and unfortunately the demand for the wines have declined in the last 4-5 years.
On August 14th, 2009 at 1:00 pm ,Kristin wrote:
Hi Tyler,
I love what you wrote and completely agree. I would love to join you for the blind tasting if you have room – I’ve done this for my friends many times and they are always blown away! Hope to see you at a tasting/event sometime soon.
On August 14th, 2009 at 9:54 pm ,Ben wrote:
Tyler,
right on man!! These are (as you know)
my favorite wines in the world! Great tasting of wines of the area today at 67- all Brun and descombes with a bottle of clos roilette added in! Amazing wines!
Thanks,
ben
On August 15th, 2009 at 12:52 pm ,John Gillespie wrote:
Consumers “trading down” from pricey Burgundy or Pinot Noir wines would be well served to acquaint themselves with Cru Beaujolais wines – the often offer a wonderful combination of delicacy, complexity, high aromatics and balance.
On August 15th, 2009 at 4:48 pm ,Grant wrote:
Visited Chateau de Bluizard back in 2002, and the owners were telling me that they were still drinking wines that their grandfather had made from the estate in the 1930’s. So the wines do age, but how well depends on a lot on yields, which in many cases in Beaujolais can be quite high. Quite an overlooked region, a lot of excellent wines coming out of there now.
Cheers
On August 16th, 2009 at 5:08 pm ,Arnie wrote:
Not long ago I would have scoffed at the idea of a Beaujolais being a great wine, but am now in agreement with this sentiment. I was very surprised and impressed with my first Cru Beaujolais last week, a Morgon from DuBouef, which I thought a great food wine, and a great value wine. I bought a Moulin a Vent that I eagerly await trying out soon.
On August 16th, 2009 at 9:12 pm ,Adam wrote:
Gotta say, I love a good Cru Beaujolais now and then, especially during the warmer summer months.
I often have customers that are looking for something lighter and fruity, but have had lackluster experiences with Beaujolais Villages wines. Once they taste a good Cru, they’re hooked.
On August 20th, 2009 at 5:55 pm ,James wrote:
I am a big fan of cru Beaujolais, but I’m torn about promoting it… if demand goes up, more will be available in the US, but prices will also rise. I’ve enjoyed having it as my little secret. 🙂
And in case there are any doubts about the seriousness of cru Beujolais, we had a bottle at Paul Bocuse’s eponymous restaurant outside Lyon last summer.
On August 30th, 2009 at 11:29 am ,Alex wrote:
I agree with the spirit of the post yet would like to point out that the wines on a title picture are in $25-27 dollars range. I have absolutely nothings against good Beaujolais vintners making good profit yet, in this price range, I have almost unlimited number of options. One has got to really like Gamay to spend that much on it… However there is a number of wonderful Village level Beaujolais (well not quite Cru rated yet who said that Good Village is worse then a Cru…)in $11-$15 dollars range. I reviewed a number of those in my BLOG auverre.blogspot.com. For those leaving around DC I also mentioned where to get those.
On September 15th, 2009 at 5:26 pm ,Felipe Méndez wrote:
Lapierre, Foillard, Métras, Descombes.
4 of my favorite producers wherever.
But I do really love the fact of people thinking “no way” about Cru Beaujolais. More wine for us. And cheaper.
On September 22nd, 2009 at 7:58 pm ,Elaine Curreri wrote:
Just returned from Quincie en Beaujolais where i picked Cote de Brouilly grapes off the vines and ate them ! Never tasted anyting so delicious in my life. I regret we didn’t take much wine home, kicking myself now as I should have brought an emtpy suitcase. Trying to find out where I can aget some online to get shipped to MA or where I can find a good selection in the Boston area..
On April 13th, 2011 at 1:15 am ,Vale wrote:
I just bought a 2009 mag of the Fleurie shown above. I also tasted a GdB Morgon 2009 recently and found it to be exceptional given the price. What I cannot stand are some wine geeks telling me that their complexity can stack up to a 15-year-old BDX (hopefully their blanket statement did not refer to the best examples from the Medoc). If not, yeah, right.