Beaujolais Flashcards
Which are the two inter-professional organisations that promote Beaujolais
1 Bureau Interprofessional des Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB)
2 Inter- Beaujolais
What rule will change in 2035
Burgundy Aligote will no longer accept grapes from Beaujolais
Which winemaking technique is Beaujolais known for
Carbonic Maceration
Who was Jules Chauvet?
1950s
4th generation Beaujolais native
Research chemist
Experimented to find more flavours=> carbonic maceration
INAO tasting glass
Taster
Father of natural wine movement
= winemaking without added sulphur
Describe the characteristics of Beaujolais Nouveau
First commercialised in 1951
Peak of popularity in 1999
vin primeur
Released third Thursday of every month (Thanksgiving weekend)
It’s made using the process of ‘carbonic maceration’ and bottled a mere 6 – 8 weeks after harvest. This method produces a wine that is very low in tannin with high acidity. Look for lush, juicy aromas of grape, light raspberry, cranberry, candied fruits (bon-bon), fig, banana, and even bubblegum
Beaujolais Nouveau OCW
In the 1970s and 1980s the region became too dependent on selling embryonic primeur wine, so-called Beaujolais Nouveau. When demand for Beaujolais Nouveau reached its peak, in 1992, nearly half of all Beaujolais AC was sold in this youthful state, for immediate consumption and, from the point of view of the producer, as an immediate generator of cash flow. But producers paid the price of much-reduced demand for their wine in the late 1990s and early 2000s when they had to resort to compulsory distillation.
Carbonic Maceration OCW
Red winemaking process which transforms a small amount of sugar in grapes which are uncrushed to ethanol, without the intervention of yeasts. It is used typically to produce light-bodied, brightly coloured, fruity red wines for early consumption, most famously but by no means exclusively in the Beaujolais region of France.
Carbonic maceration is not normally used with white grapes, as undesirable flavours are formed. When used to make red wines, whole bunches of grapes are deliberately placed, with care to ensure that the berries are not broken, in an anaerobic atmosphere, generally obtained by using carbon dioxide to exclude oxygen. An intracellular fermentation takes place within the intact berry and a small amount of ethanol is formed, along with traces of many flavourful aromatic compounds. All of these contribute to the distinctive aroma and flavour of the resultant wines. The maceration period in this anaerobic environment and phase, where these aromatic compounds are produced, depends on temperature, and can be from one to three weeks.
Which is the famous red grape of Beaujolais
Gamay
Collection of 1,000 variant clones
Which are the 5 stages of viticultural history of Beaujolais
1 Romans=grapes, Broullius
2 Middle Ages=Benedictine monks
3 18c=Expansion of Lyon, taxed on wines from outside region
4 19c = Railways and exports to Paris
5 1950’s=Beaujolais Nouveau
Location of Beaujolais
North=Maconnias
South=Lyon
West=Monts de Beaujolais
East=Saone river
55km x 11km
General climate of Beaujolais
4 seasons
Summers warm and dry
Winters cold
Rainfall average 740mm
Which 2 French cities were instrumental in launching Beaujolais’ popularity
Lyon and Paris
What are the three main climatic influences of Beaujolais
1 Monts de Beaujolais which shelter vines from cold winds and rain (shadow)
2 Rivers to East regulate temperature extremes
3 Proximity to Med creates extra warmth
What are the weather hazards in Beaujolais
1 Spring frost
2 Autumn rain
3 Grey rot in cool/humid conditions
What are the major soil types of Beaujolais and where are they located?
North Beaujolias=Granite (and schist)
plus sandy soils arene/gorrhe
South Beaujolais=Pierres Dorees (Golden Stones of limestone and iron-oxide)
Where are the best vineyard sites located
Steep granite outcrops of Monts du Beaujolais in NW
What altitude are the vineyards
200-300m
Are the vineyards located on the banks of the Saone?
No, this area is too fertile for the grapes
Where is the UNESCO global geopark
Beaujolais region for rich and complex geology.
It is renowned worldwide for its wines and the territory benefits from an exceptional geological diversity that has been shaped over nearly 500 million years. (….) Mont Brouilly is one of the most emblematic sites of the Beaujolais UNESCO Global Geopark. Rising in the heart of the wine-growing coast, Mont Brouilly is witness to the long and tumultuous geological history of Beaujolais. This geosite offers spectacular panoramas and a sustainable layout to discover its geology, history and legends, the vineyards and forests of Beaujolais
What are the primary red grapes of Beaujolais?
Gamay Noir
98% plantings
Prefers granite
Many old vines
Also Pinot Noir
Describe Gamay (OCW)
Gamay Noir, ancient Burgundian red grape variety solely responsible for the distinctive, evolving and unfairly unfashionable wines of beaujolais. Galet cites 30 different Gamays, many quite unrelated to the Beaujolais archetype, many of them particular clonal selections of it, and many more of them red-fleshed teinturiers once widely used to add colour to vapid blends. Red-fleshed versions can still be found, particularly in Mâconnais and Touraine, and France grew almost 200 ha/500 acres of Gamay Teinturier de Bouze in 2011. The ‘real’ Gamay is officially known as Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc to draw attention to its noble pale flesh, and is a natural offspring of Pinot and Gouais Blanc (see pinot).
The introduction of Gamay to the vineyards of the côte d’or in the late 14th century was viewed as scandalous by those whose livelihood did not personally depend on rearing productive vines, and great efforts were made to retain pinot noir at the expense of the less noble newcomer.
The vine is a precocious one, budding, flowering, and ripening early, which makes it prone to spring frosts but means that it can flourish in regions as cool as much of the Loire. It can easily produce too generously and the traditional gobelet method of training is designed to match this aptitude to the granitic soils of the better Beaujolais vineyards.
Although today an increasing proportion of Beaujolais, particularly from the crus, is vinified like red burgundy with full barrel maturation and is expected to age for several years in bottle, Gamay juice for long tended to be vinified in a hurry, not least because of strong market pressure in the 1970s and 1980s for Beaujolais nouveau. As a wine, Gamay tends to be paler and bluer than most other reds, with relatively high acidity and a simple but vivacious aroma of freshly picked red fruits, often overlaid by the less subtle smells associated with rapid, anaerated fermentation such as bananas, boiled sweets, and acetone in the Nouveau era. In Mâconnais and Switzerland, it is often blended with Pinot Noir, endowing the nobler grape with some precocity, but often blurring the very distinct attributes of each.
Gamay and Beaujolais are entirely interdependent. Few wine regions are so determinedly monocépagiste as Beaujolais; in 2011 all but 400 ha of the Rhône département’s nearly 17,548 ha/43,343 acres of vines were Gamay Noir. Vinification techniques vary but most common is a local variant on carbonic maceration.
What are the primary white grapes in Beaujolais
Just Chardonnay
(only 2% plantings)
Increasing with Cremant de Bourgogne
What are the primary grapes for rose wine in Beaujolais
Mainly Gamay but could have upto 15% secondary grapes in a field blend incl Pinot Gris
Which are Beaujolais’ dominant pruning and VTS
Gobelet for Beaujolais Cru and Villages
(dominant and previously mandatory)
Cordon (I or II), Evenetail (spur) = authorised
Guyot only permitted for Red and White Beaujolais and white Villages
