Beaujolais

Question 1

Beaujolais in relation to Burgundy?

Answer 1

Beaujolais is a part of greater Burgundy, being just south of Maconnais, and makes more wine than the rest of Burgundy put together

Question 2

Carbonic Maceration

Answer 2

o Carbonic maceration: Winemaking process which transforms a small amount of sugar contained in uncrushed grapes into ethanol without the intervention of yeasts. o Whole clusters placed in closed vats with CO2 to remove oxygen o CO2 chases out O2 out of the vat o causes a fermentation to start inside the berries on top (intracellular fermentation) o the intracellular fermentation is anaerobic o at ~ 2 % abv the berries split and normal ferment commences o typically short maceration (4 to 8 days) o Then drain the free run juice + press the remaining must o Fermented through as juice with yeast added

Question 3

Moulin- a- Vent

Answer 3

Producing the highest quality Cru wines On Manganese & Iron rich soils more concentrated than typical Beaujolais Cru; considered to be more Pinot Noir like

Question 4

Morgon

Answer 4

This is the second largest Cru, after Brouilly Makes full bodied, ageworthy wines, with dark cherry and tannins. Volcanic soils of Cote de Py

Question 5

Chenas

Answer 5

Generally from the sloping vineyards, a small appellation

Question 6

Fleurie

Answer 6

The soils are mainly pinkish sandy granite soil and the wines are light, fragrant, feminine and floral. Generally some of the most expensive Beaujolais Cru

Question 7

Chiroubles

Answer 7

High altitudes give a lifted nose and poor soils offer a tense palate.

Question 8

Brouilly

Answer 8

The largest AOC, with 1300 Ha, light and perfumed wines, on volcanic soils

Question 9

Cote du Brouilly

Answer 9

From the hill above Brouilly, with a lighter style

Question 10

Julienas

Answer 10

Takes its name from Julius Caesar in reflection of Roman times.

Question 11

St Amour

Answer 11

Most northern Cru. Bordering Macon and Pouilly Fuisse, makes light styled Beaujolais from its limestone soils

Question 12

Regnie

Answer 12

The youngest of the Cru, awarded Cru status on December 8, 1988

Question 13

AC Beaujolais

Answer 13

Beaujolais AOC • Regional AOC covering whole area – but in reality limited to southern Beaujolais vineyards • Max yield is 60 hL/Ha. • High yield means some wines lack flavour intensity • Made in a fresh fruity style, from carbonic or semi carbonic maceration • Wine good quality and inexpensive and the wines are released young

Question 14

Beaujolais - Villages

Answer 14

There are 38 villages who can call their wine Beaujolais Villages Max yield is 58 hL/Ha. If grapes from one Village then name of Village can go on the bottle

Question 15

Beaujolais Crus

Answer 15

10 villages producing wines of distinction, do not need to state Beaujolais on label. From north to south they are; Saint- Amour AC, Julienas AC, Chenas AC, Moulin a Vent AC, Chiroubles AC, Fleurie AC, Morgon AC, Regnie AC, Cote de Brolly AC and Brouilly AC. Gamay has good affinity with granite based soils, wines have greater complexity and depth than those produced in the east and south. Moulin a Vent and Morgon ae full bodied and will improve in bottle.

Question 16

Beaujolais- Growing Environment

Answer 16

Cool Continental • Drier and warmer than the rest of Burgundy • Rainfall average 740mm per annum • Affected by Mistral winds o which can affect flowering in Spring o damage the leaves and thin skins of the Gamay grape o low trellising and vine orientation used to reduce effect of wind • the south of Beaujolais tends to be cooler due to lack of slopes to intercept the sun and the predominance of cooler soils

Question 17

Beaujolais- Viticulture

Answer 17

Gamay in Beaujolais is mostly freestanding goblet trained (some vineyards, especially in East and South, are trellised along wires).

Question 18

Beaujolais - Vinification - what methods are used?

Answer 18

1. Chaptalisation is used in cooler years 2. Majority of vinification is semi-carbonic maceration 3. Some producers use carbonic maceration 4. A small number, mainly top end Cru producers are using standard red winemaking techniques with crushing/destemming, fermentation completed on skins and then barrel ageing in small & large barrels with small % of new oak

Question 19

Chiroubles- Beaujolais

Answer 19

Highest of the Beaujolais crus, producing some of the lightest but most genuinely refreshing wines. The soils are very similar to the sandiest parts of neighbouring fleurie and wines can be a little tart in poor vintages. Perhaps the most archetypically Beaujolais of all the crus, Chiroubles is best drunk relatively young. Total vineyard area had shrunk to 324 ha/800 acres by 2012.

Question 20

Fleurie- Beaujolais

Answer 20

Fleurie: 822 ha. o Most expensive of all crus Beaujolais. o Feminine and floral, at the foothills of la Madone. o Soils vary from sandy (lightest wines), to clay (wines can be quite meaty and full bodied). o Southern Sandy soils produce lighter more fragrant wines and Northern Clay rich soils produce heavier wines, lower acidity and more full bodied o Producer: Domaine Jean Foillard

Question 21

Julienas

Answer 21

One of the ten beaujolais crus in the far north of the region. 570 hectares of Gamay vines produce wines with real backbone.

Question 22

Chenas

Answer 22

the smallest of the ten Beaujolais crus in the far north of the region in the shadow of moulin-à-vent. By 2011 its total vineyard had shrunk to 243 ha/600 acres divided between the villages of Chénas and La Chapelle de Guinchay. Hubert Lapierre is one of the oldest domaines.

Question 23

Moulin- a- Vent

Answer 23

Moulin-à-Vent: 610 ha. o Highest quality (“The King of Beaujolais”) due to soils with manganese + iron. o Expected to last the longest (ageing potential 10 years), o taste more concentrated, least typical. o With time > taste more like old Pinot Noir. o Producer: Georges Duboeuf

Question 24

Morgon

Answer 24

Morgon: 1,100 ha. o 2nd largest Cru o Manganese soils. o Full-bodied and age-worthy (5years). o Pronounced black cherry, alongside red fruit and sufficient tannins to age in bottle o Better ripeness than in most Crus. o Soils – include ex-volcanic cone Côte de Py providing depth. o Wines from Cote de Py  Pronounced intensity black cherry fruit  Alongside red berry fruits  Sufficient tannins to age for a decade in bottle o Producer: Jean-Paul Thevenet

Question 25

Regnie

Answer 25

the most recently created beaujolais cru (in 1988), is a tribute to communal spirit, or at least the spirit abroad in the neighbouring communes of Régnié-Durette and Lantignié, whose vignerons lobbied for years to be allowed to join the other nine crus. The total area of vineyards had shrunk to 287 ha/709 acres by 2012, however. This is one of the highest and most westerly of the crus immediately east of Beaujeu and can taste more like a Beaujolais-Villages unless very well done.

Question 26

Brouilly

Answer 26

Brouilly: o 1,300 ha (largest cru). o Soils are volcanic with vineyards flanking the old volcano - Mont Brouilly. o Most southerly and marginally warmer o Produces lighter, more perfumed style o Producer: Domaine Laurent Martray and Chateau de Thivin

Question 27

St- Amour

Answer 27

the most northerly of the beaujolais crus and an area with some limestone in which a considerable amount of white Beaujolais Blanc (and st-véran) is made. A steady 320 ha/790 acres of Gamay vines are planted for the production of relatively light but true red Beaujolais.

Question 28

Nouveau

Answer 28

Beaujolais Nouveau • Category of wine within AOC regulations • Can be labelled Beaujolais Nouveau AOC or Beaujolais Nouveau Villages AOC – depending on where it is grown • Can be sold from third Thursday in November! Post Vintage • Made from semi-carbonic or carbonic maceration • BOTTLED 3-5 days after ferment is complete! • Some have MLF completed • Fining and sterile filtration is common in case of MLF in bottle • Short shelf life

Question 29

Beaujolais: History

Answer 29

Roman times: records of vineyards in Beaujolais, notably Mont Brouilly 7th: monks start cultivating vines 10th: foundation of the town of Beaujeu, ruled by the Dukes of Beaujeu, that gave its name to Beaujolais 1395: decree by Philip Le Hardi banning Gamay in Burgundy -> gave its identity to Beaujolais 19th: wine business continues to grow thanks to transport networks + expands to the less suitable south 60-80s: Beaujolais Nouveau happy days -> 92: 50% of Beaujolais wines = Nouveau 02: part of the crop sent to distillation due to lack of interest in the wines.

Question 30

Beaujolais: Climate and Weather

Answer 30

• Cool Continental • Drier and warmer than the rest of Burgundy • Rainfall average 740mm per annum • Affected by Mistral winds o which can affect flowering in Spring o damage the leaves and thin skins of the Gamay grape o low trellising and vine orientation used to reduce effect of wind • the south of Beaujolais tends to be cooler due to lack of slopes to intercept the sun and the predominance of cooler soils, i.e. clay

Question 31

Beaujolais: Soils and Typography

Answer 31

Granite base with variations.

• North
  
  • Fast draining soils with granite + schist (stronger wines).
  • Hilly terrain - 200 to 500 metres elevation
  • Faster and more homogeneous ripening than South
  • Vineyards on south and south east facing slopes
• East
  
  • Alluvial soils
• South
  
  • flat with clay & limestone (lighter wines, mostly Beaujolais Nouveau).
  • Uneven ripening so diverse quality.

Mainly straight Beaujolais.

Question 32

Beaujolais: Grape Varieties

Answer 32

Beaujolais: region w highest proportion of single variety in France - 98% Gamay Noir

1% Chardonnay

Aligoté allowed until 2024

Question 33

Beaujolais: Red Grape Varieties

Answer 33

Gamay Noir (98% of plantings) - Potentially named after village of same name close to Puligny-Montrachet - Early budding, flowering & ripening -> susceptible to spring frosts - Hi yield -> easy to let it overproduce -> hi density + rigorous pruning + goblet - Very little in Burgundy, mainly in Cote Chalonnaise

Question 34

Beaujolais: White Grapes Varieties

Answer 34

Chardonnay (1% of plantings) - Hardy, easy to grow & versatile - Can produce interesting wines at hi yields Aligote in very small amounts

Question 35

How many hectares in Beaujolais?

Answer 35

15,000 Ha.

Question 36

Semi-carbonic maceration

Answer 36

Semi-carbonic maceration  extracts colour (very purple) and aromas (pear drop, banana, kirsch, bubblegum)  but limited tannin.  Wines made this way are distinctive, with a fruity, low tannin flavour profile, and are best consumed while young  Generally described as distinctive but not complex  Technique is: • Whole bunches filled into a vessel • No CO2 is added • The weight of the fruit crushes the bottom bunches releasing juice • This juice begin ordinary fermentation producing CO2 and the other bunches start ‘intracellular fermentation’ • After the berries all split at around 2 degrees ethanol then pressed off and fermented through as juice  Amount of maceration in this method depends on quality outcome sought: • Generally 4 to 5 days on skins – Beaujolais/Beaujolais Villages • 6-9 days for top quality Beaujolais Villages • 10-20 days for Cru Beaujolais

Question 37

Beaujolais key producers

Answer 37

• Key producers: o Georges Duboeuf - King of Beaujolais after started marketing Beaujolais Nouveau; 3m cases/year - Created Hameau du Vin, miniature wine village w museum & shop o Louis Jadot’s Chateau des Jacques (27ha) - Bought over by LJ in ’96; whites & Moulin-a-vent - Burgundian production style w no carbonic maceration + no new-oak ageing o Émile Cheysson - Founded in 1870; 26ha; Chiroubles; text-book Beaujolais

Question 38

Beaujolais: Trade Structure

Answer 38

Cooperatives 25% of total sales by volume Mainly growers (average 10 Ha.) selling to Negociants

Question 39

Beaujolais Nouveau release date?

Answer 39

Beaujolais Nouveau - Released to consumers on the 3rd Thursday after vintage; cannot be sold after 31st August

Question 40

Beaujolais AOC

Answer 40

About half of all Beaujolais production is sold under the basic appellation Beaujolais AOC. Covers the entire region However main production is in the south of the region Wines can be sold from mid January after harvest Wines are 60 hL/Ha max. yield with low flavours intensity, made in a fresh and fruit style, good quality and inexpensive in price

Question 41

Beaujolais- Viticulture

Answer 41

The gobelet vine-training method is traditional in Beaujolais but in fact single guyot is much more likely in the southern Bas Beaujolais, with up to 12 buds. For Beaujolais-Villages as well as the crus, pruning is used to reduce the bud numbers to a level where quality grapes will be produced.

Question 42

Beaujolais- Vine Varieties

Answer 42

Gamay Noir accounts for about 98% of the Beaujolais vineyard, which makes Beaujolais the most monocépagiste (single variety) region of any size in France. Virtually all the rest is Chardonnay, although Aligoté is also allowed until 2024 (so long as it was planted before 2004).

Question 43

Beaujolais- Winemaking

Answer 43

Beaujolais is distinguished not just by the Gamay grape, but by its characteristic winemaking method, carbonic maceration or, more likely, semi-carbonic maceration. Only in Beaujolais is this technique used so widely, and, in the Nouveau era, with such speed. Another controversial issue in Beaujolais is chaptalization. In recent years the trend was to pick grapes at the legal minimum ripeness of 10% potential alcohol (10.5% for Beaujolais-Villages and crus), and then add sugar to bring the actual alcoholic strength dangerously close to the theoretical 12.5% maximum permitted final alcohol content. Whole bunches arrive at the cellars and are emptied into cement or stainless steel fermentation vessels generally of between 40 and 300 hl/1,056 and 7,920 gal capacity. The bottom 10 to 30% of grapes are crushed by the weight above them and ferment in the normal way. This proportion increases with time. carbon dioxide is given off by this fermentation, and leaves the upper grapes bathed in the gas so that they undergo intracellular fermentation and produce the sort of aromas reminiscent of pear drops and bananas so closely associated with Beaujolais. This combination of two different sorts of fermentation, together with maceration of the lower grapes and must, continues for perhaps as little as four days for Beaujolais Nouveau and ten days, sometimes longer nowadays, for cru wines destined for the long term. The pomace is then pressed and, unlike other regions, the press wine is automatically included in the final blend. malolactic conversion is then de rigueur. After some form of stabilization, the wine is bottled either at under two months, in the case of Nouveaux, or perhaps not until the second Christmas after the vintage for the most concentrated, long-lived crus. Bottling often takes place in the cellars of the négociants who soak up the great majority of production (every beaune merchant has to have its Beaujolais and Burgundians such as Louis jadot, bouchard père et fils, and grower Thibault Liger-Belair have invested directly in properties in Beaujolais), or possibly at one of the village co-operatives, which produce about a third of all the region’s wine, or in a grower’s cellar, using a mobile bottling line. An increasing proportion of Beaujolais, particularly in the crus, is made like ‘proper’ red burgundy at a much more leisurely pace, given some cask ageing, and possibly even bottled by hand from individual barrels. North Beaujolais is a region where tradition and the best of peasant culture have survived, looking down, perhaps with wry amusement, at the decreasing but frenetic production of Nouveau in the Bas Beaujolais

Question 44

Granite

Answer 44

A coarse-grained, pale-coloured igneous rock of plutonic origin (see geology). Feldspars are the dominant constituent, with lesser amounts of quartz together with minerals such as mica and amphibole. The feldspars are rich in potassium, the chief mineral nutrient for vines and an indirect influence on wine flavour, although typically only a small proportion is actually available to the vine. Granitic soils tend to have low fertility, and because the quartz grains resist weathering, such soils are sandy and well-drained. They are widespread and are favoured for viticulture although they tend to be acid. Examples include dão and parts of sardinia, the northern rhône, beaujolais, as well as the Granite Belt of queensland and parts of South Africa’s Western Cape, coastal chile, and California’s Sierra Foothills east of the central valley.

Question 45

Semi Carbonic Maceration

Answer 45

winemaking process which involves a short carbonic maceration phase followed by a normal alcoholic fermentation. In such wines, winemakers rely upon an initial period of maceration of the grapes in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) atmosphere, followed by crushing, pressing, and then traditional fermentation of the resultant must.

The great majority of Beaujolais nouveau and most other primeur wines are made in this fashion. Such wines have a very distinct aroma reminiscent of bananas or kirsch, arising from the distinctive by-products of the intracellular fermentation occurring within the whole berries and without yeast, during the first phase.

Question 46

Beaujolais

Answer 46

Beaujolais AOP Saint- Amour AOP Julienas AOP Chenas AOP Moulin- a- Vent AOP Fleurie AOP Chiroubles AOP Morgon AOP Regnie AOP Cote de Brouilly AOP Brouilly AOP

Question 47

what percentage is Gamay of total plantings in Beaujolais

Answer 47

98%

Question 48

Other than Gamay what other varieties are allowed under the Beaujolais AOC?

Answer 48

Chardonnay and Aligote (until 2024)

Question 49

What are the characteristics of the Gamay varietal?

Answer 49

Gamay Noir early budding and early ripening thin skinned vigourous and prone to high yields suffers from millerandage - in cold, damp, windy conditions red berry fruits, raspberry, red cherry, red plum medium+ to high acidity light to medium- body light to medium tannins

Question 50

What percentage of sales are made by cooperatives

Answer 50

25%

Question 51

What percentage is exported? and to what markets?

Answer 51

40% of volume is exported

Japan (mainly Beaujolais Nouveau), USA and UK

Question 52

What percentage is Nouveau production?

Answer 52

25% of total volume production

Question 53

What % is domestic sales? and where to?

Answer 53

60% sold in France

Direct sales and wine shops

Supermarkets and hospitality