Cote Chalonnais, The Maconnais, Beaujolais

Question 1

How long is the Cote Chalonnais?

Answer 1

25 km

Question 2

Why may ripening take longer in the Cote Chalonnais?

Answer 2

Terrain is less rugged and more hilly with plenty of cool westerly winds.

Question 3

5 Village Appellations of Cote Chalonnais

Answer 3

Bouzeron
Rully
Givry
Mercurey
Montagny

Question 4

Which two Cote Chalonnais villages only produce white wines?

Answer 4

Bouzeron

Montagny

Question 5

Which Cote Chalonnais village produces wines from Aligote?

Answer 5

Bouzeron

Question 6

Which Cote Chalonnais Village was the first place to produce sparkling wine in Burgundy?

Answer 6

Rully

Question 7

Best red wines in Cote Chalonnais

Answer 7

Givry and Mercurey produce the best reds in the region, and make far more Pinot Noir than Chardonnay. Mercurey’s output alone accounts for roughly two-thirds of the entire Côte Chalonnaise.

Question 8

Varietally labeled Gamay in the Maconnais will be labeled under what AOP?

Answer 8

Macon AOP

Question 9

What percentage of Macon AOP has a village added?

Answer 9

85%

Question 10

How many communes can append their name to Macon AOP wine?

Answer 10

27

Question 11

How is most Macon white vinified?

Answer 11

Stainless Steel, no oak.

Question 12

How does Macon Chardonnay compare to Chablis?

Answer 12

In comparison to Chablis it tends to be fruitier and more open, but lacks Chablis’ sharp mineral edge and high acidity.

Question 13

5 Village AOPs of Macon

Answer 13

Pouilly-Fuissé
Pouilly-Loché
Pouilly-Vinzelles
Saint-Véran
Viré-Clessé. 
All five produce only Chardonnay.

Question 14

Four Communes of Pouilly-Fuisse

Answer 14

Fuissé, Solutré-Pouilly, Vergisson, and Chaintré

Question 15

What defines the landscape of the Southern Maconnais?

Answer 15

Rocks of Solutré and Vergisson, two large limestone escarpments

Question 16

How much of land under vine is planted to Gamay in Beaujolais?

Answer 16

over 95%

Question 17

Ten Crus of Beaujolais North to South

Answer 17

St-Amour
Juliénas
Chénas
Moulin-a-Vent
Fleurie
Chiroubles
Morgon
Régnié
Brouilly
Côte de Brouilly

Question 18

St-Amour

Answer 18

light, easy-drinking cru, characterized by soft red fruit.

Question 19

Julienas

Answer 19

Unfortunately, there aren’t very many high-quality producers in Juliénas, and styles of wine can vary quite a bit, but overall, the wines tend to be on the weightier side, with dark red fruit flavors and earthiness.

Question 20

Chenas

Answer 20

Few examples are exported to the U.S., so the small Chénas often remains elusive, but the wines are worth the effort and easy to love. Sometimes quite Burgundian in style, Chénas is a sturdier cru and has a mineral intensity – like its neighbor Moulin-a-Vent – that develops with age.

Question 21

Moulin-a-Vent

Answer 21

The soils in Moulin-a-Vent cause the vines to yield fewer but more concentrated berries, creating a style of wine that couldn’t be further from the stereotypical fresh, easy-drinking style of Beaujolais lacking in complexity. Moulin-à-Vent is robust and (relatively) tannic, and while by no means are these wines unapproachable when young, they can also age for 10, 20, sometimes even 50 years, bearing similarities to Burgundy and Rhone wines as they get older.

Question 22

Soils of Moulin-a-Vent

Answer 22

Pink Granite

Question 23

Fleurie

Answer 23

A lighter style of cru Beaujolais, Fleurie is characterized by blossom-like red fruit and the unmistakeable aromas of les fleurs rose and violet. Undoubtedly the prettiest of the crus, Fleurie is excellent chilled.

Question 24

Chiroubles

Answer 24

Chiroubles is the lightest bodied cru Beaujolais. This is because Chiroubles has the highest elevation in the region, and therefore, the coolest temperatures, creating delicate red berry fruit and similar violet note to its neighbor, Fleurie.

Question 25

Morgon

Answer 25

Morgon is especially granite-centric, creating concentrated, serious, and fairly tannic wines. Morgon is comprised of six named vineyards, the most famous of which is Cote du Py, and all of these wines get better – and much more interesting – with age.

Question 26

Regnie

Answer 26

Elevated in 1988, Régnié is the youngest of the Beaujolais crus, and stylistically, it brings together the fresh fruit of Brouilly with a bit of the body and structure of Morgon. It’s supple but lively, with bright raspberry flavors and often a spicy note that makes it distinctive.

Question 27

Cote de Brouilly

Answer 27

Vines are grown on the ancient volcano’s slopes, where they get more sun and better drainage than the surrounding plains of Brouilly. This creates wines that are a bit riper, more serious, and more ageable than little brother Brouilly.

Question 28

Brouilly

Answer 28

Light to medium bodied, it is typically lively, fruity, and fresh.

Question 29

Passe-tout-grains minimum blend for Pinot Noir and Gamay

Answer 29

30% Pinot Noir

15% Gamay

Question 30

Marcel Lapierre

Answer 30

Marcel was part of Kermit Lynch’s designated “Gang of Four”: four Beaujolais vignerons following the teachings and practices of late winemaker and chemist Jules Chauvet, considered a forefather of the French natural wine movement. Marcel passed away shortly after the 2010 harvest, and his son Mathieu has since taken over the estate.

Question 31

Jean Foillard

Answer 31

Jean and Agnès Foillard took over the domaine from Jean’s father in 1980. Jean is part of Kermit Lynch’s designated “Gang of Four”: four Beaujolais vignerons following the teachings and practices of late winemaker and chemist Jules Chauvet, considered a forefather of the French natural wine movement. Foillard is known for structured Morgon wines, crafted in a Burgundian style. Vineyards are farmed organically and are hand-harvested, choosing only the healthiest grapes so as to allow vinification without the use of sulfur.

Question 32

Jean-Paul Thevenet

Answer 32

Jean-Paul is part of Kermit Lynch’s designated “Gang of Four”: four Beaujolais vignerons following the teachings and practices of late winemaker and chemist Jules Chauvet, considered a forefather of the French natural wine movement. The domain has the smallest production of the four, producing only 2,000 cases a year from only five hectares in Morgon, farmed by Jean-Paul and his son Charly. Both Jean-Paul and Charly are staunch supporters of “natural” wine, and the two implemented organic and biodynamic viticultural practices in 2008.

Question 33

Guy Breton

Answer 33

Guy is part of Kermit Lynch’s designated “Gang of Four”: four Beaujolais vignerons following the teachings and practices of late winemaker and chemist Jules Chauvet, considered a forefather of the French natural wine movement. Before Guy took over the family domaine from his grandfather in 1986, the family sold fruit to the local cooperative wineries. His three hectares are now farmed organically. Breton wines are known for being the lightest in color, lowest in alcohol and least tannic of the “Gang of Four” Morgons.

Question 34

Jean Louis Dutraive

Answer 34

Jean Dutraive purchased Domaine de la Grand’Cour in 1969, and his son Jean-Louis joined in 1977 before taking over entirely in 1989. The heart of the domaine’s property is in the lieux dits of Clos de la Grand’Cour and Chapelle des Bois in Fleurie, surrounding the cellar. The vineyards were certified organic in 2009.

Question 35

Domaine des Terres Dorees (JP Brun)

Answer 35

Originally, the Terres Dorées land was the Brun family farm with only four hectares of wines, whose grapes the family sold to the local cooperative. In the 1970s, Jean-Paul expressed an interest in winemaking to his father, and in 1977 they began making and bottling their own wine, officially establishing Domaine des Terres Dorées in 1979. Today, Jean-Paul Brun is recognized for making Beaujolais in a less traditional and more Burgundian fashion, having decided early on that Beaujolais’ traditional whole-cluster, semi-carbonic fermentation wasn’t appropriate for the wines he wanted to make. He also staunchly believes in using only his vineyard’s wild yeast for fermentation, rather than synthetic forms.

Question 36

Julien Sunier

Answer 36

A “newcomer” to Beaujolais, Julien Sunier is originally from Burgundy, but he’s worked everywhere from Beaune and Nuits-Saint-Georges to California and New Zealand. Following his recent work in Burgundy, Julien worked for négociant Mommessin for five years. He left Mommessin to establish his own domaine in 2008 and to pursue his passion for organic viticulture and natural winemaking. Julien has secured old-vine, hilltop parcels in the villages of Fleurie, Morgon and Régnié, which he now farms organically.

Question 37

Chignard

Answer 37

Michel Chignard marked the fourth generation vigneron at the helm of Domaine Chignard; he turned the reigns over to his son Cédric full-time in 2007. Cédric carries on his father’s winemaking philosophy, taking a minimalist approach in both the vineyards and the cellar. They employ lutte raisonnée farming for their 60-year-old vines in Fleurie.

Question 38

Georges Descombes

Answer 38

George Descombes grew up working for his father and a local bottling company, which enabled him to taste wines from several estates. During this time he tasted with Marcel Lapierre and set his sights on crafting wines in a style similar to Lapierre’s Morgons. Georges took over his father’s estate in 1988 and shifted towards organic viticulture and certification.

Question 39

Daniel Bouland

Answer 39

Daniel Bouland farms organically in the Morgon lieux dits of Douby, Côte du Py and Delys. He works alone in his vineyards, and his younger parcels have been planted using selection massale from his older vineyards. Bouland adamantly refuses chaptalization and employs non-interventionalist winemaking.

Question 40

Barbet (Domaine des Billards)

Answer 40

Today’s Barbet family has deep roots in Beaujolais. In the 1850s, the son of Jean-Marie Loron (a local négociant) married the daughter of the Charlet family (who owned the Clos de Billards vineyard in Saint-Amour). By the 1900s, the resulting family domaine held vineyards in several of Beaujolais’ Crus. Today, the wines are made by Xavier and Gregory Barbet, the sixth generation of family following in the footsteps of the original owners. The domaine practices lutte raisonnée farming without the use of herbicides.