FR: Beaujolais, Macon, Chalonnaise Flashcards
Encepagement for Beaujolais CRU’s?
Gamay + max. 15% mixed Chardonnay, Aligoté, Melon B
Sort Beaujolais Cru by:
- Fruity
- Fruity + Structured
- Most structured
- Fruity: Brouilly, Regnie, Chiroubles
- Fruity/Structured: Saint-Amour, Fleurie, Chenas
- Structured: Cote de Brouilly, Morgon, Julienas, Moulin-a-Vent
BEST SOURCE
Beaujolais Cru vine density? typical vine type?
min 6000 vines/ha
Gobelet
Beaujolais Blanc grapes
100% Chardonnay
River to the east of Beaujolais Crus?
Saone River
Saint-Amour
- terrain
- soil
- style
- producers, important lieux dit
Northernmost; overlaps with St-Veran. 310ha
TERRAIN: ~200 to 400M on slopes of Mt. Bessay
SOILS: low proportion of granite. Basalt, diorites, schists, volcanic.
STYLE: freshness and lift with some structure. Middle ground stylistically
IMPORTANT LIEUX-DIT: La Folie, Clos du Chapitre
Domaine de Fa, Descombes
Julienas
- terrain
- soils
- style
- important Lieux Dit
TERRAIN: 570ha, mostly located on Mt. Bessay reaching 400M+. S/SW exposition.
SOILS: no granite. Diorite and schists, like Morgon.
STYLE: more topsoil, clay = more powerful, structured wines
LIEUX DIT: Les Capitans
Marrans, Yann Bertrand
[S/SW exposition, steep slopes, lack of granite, clay and topsoil = structured wines. 3rd steepest cru after Chiroubles & Cote de Brouilly]
Chenas
- terrain
- soils
- style/other need to knows
Chénas + La Chapelle-de-Guinchay (home of Jules Lavalle). chênes = oak
TERRAIN: steep slopes and granite in west; gentler hills and colluvial piedmont soils in east
STYLE: more structured/tannic
[Chenas’ size and the fact that some parts can label as Moulin-a-Vent probaby hasn’t helped with name recognition.]
Producers: Dutraive, Anthony Thevenet, Damien Coquelet
Moulin-a-Vent
- villages
- terrain
- soils
- styles
- important lieux-dit & producers
611ha. Chénas + Romanèche-Thorins
- TERRAIN: not the steepest or highest. 150 -450M; mostly E-facing
- SOILS: gore (soft pink granite). Higher levels of manganese.
- STYLE: most structured/tannic of the crus. Most likely to see some oak usage.
Ch. des Jacques (Jadot), T. Liger-Belair, Mee Gordard
Gore (soil)
Soft pink granitic soils
associated with Moulin-a-Vent
Fleurie
- terrain
- soils
- style
- important lieux-dit & producers
860ha.
- TERRAIN: steep slopes in the west (50%+), flat in east, and varied.
- SOILS: 90% pure or weathered pink granite. Only Chiroubles is more granitic (100%)
- STYLE: fruit + structure
- LIEUX-DIT: La Madone, La Roillette, Chapelle des Bois, Grand Pre, Champagne
The main 7 - applied for 1er Cru status: La Madone, Grille Midi, La Chapelle des Bois, Poncié, Les Moriers, Les Garants and La Roilette
Name 3 Lieux Dit in Fleurie
La Madone
Grille Midi
La Chapelle des Bois
Poncié, Les Moriers
Les Garants
La Roilette
Chiroubles
- terrain
- style
- elevation/slope
The lightest and brightest.
TERRAIN: tiny.. 370ha.
lightest, fruitiest cru
* sandy eroded granite soils; great drainage. Highest granite content of any cru
* coolest temp + highest gen. elevation @ 250 - 450M. Steep hillsides
[most uniform cru as far as soils - pure granite with a layer of smectite (clay). The main difference from plot to plot is thickness of topsoil
Morgon
- terrain
- style
- lieux dit
2nd largest (after Brouilly) @ ~1100ha
- TERRAIN: varied. Mostly E-facing
- SOILS: varied. Granite, roche pourrie (rotten rock, manganese - prevalent in Cote de Py, Javernieres in SE)
- LIEUX DIT: Javernieres, Côte du Py, Grand Cras, Corcelette
Gang of Four: Lapierre, J. Foillard, JP Thevent, Guy Breton
Gang of Four
Kermit Lynch name
Marcel Lapierre, Jean Paul Thevenet, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton
All in Morgon Cru
Important Lieux-dit in Morgon?
Côte du Py
Grand Cras
Corcelette
Javernières
Douby, Les Charmes, Les Micouds - the other 3
Regnie
- terrain
- soils
- style
Beaujolais’ newest cru, est 1988.
Regnié-Durette + Lantignié
- TERRAIN: one of the highest - avg 350M. SE-facing
- SOILS: weathered pink granite with a lot of gore and sand
- STYLE: fruity, lifted
Brouilly
- terrain
- soils
- style
Beaujolais’ largest cru @ 1300ha, covering 20% of cru area.
TERRAIN: vineyard covers all sides but NW. Varied. Avg elevation 250M
SOILS: varied, at crossroads of 4 main types… Granite, diorite, schist, limestone
STYLE: in the lifted fruit camp - but more dense than Chiroubles & Regnie
8 million bottles a year
Cote de Brouilly
- terrain
- soils
- style
- TERRAIN: 2nd steepest cru after Chiroubles (15% of plots are 50%+). All sides are covered in vine, even the west.
- SOILS: more schist and diorite than granite, but has a little of it all
- STYLE: fruit + structure
[home to Notre-Dame-aux-Raisins - a chapel built after 3 devasting frosts and powdery mildew attacks in the 1850s as an appeal to the mercy of God to provide plentiful crops]
Beaujolais soils, speaking generally
Burgundy’s limestone gives way to granite + schist of the Massif Central mountain range
* coarse, sandy soils in north with some amounts of clay
* heavier clay soils in southern Beaujolais
Cote de Py
- soils
- producers
Morgon
PRODUCERS: Jean-Marc Burgaud, Jean Foillard, Daniel Bouland
* roche pourrie: “rotten rock”; granite, schist soils - some volcanic material
* highest point in Morgon
Jules Chauvet
natural wine hero from La Chapelle-de-Guinchay in Chenas
Beaujolais vintages since 2017
NOT BAD:
2018: complex year of good to excellent wines. No major frost/hail
2020: no frost, no hail. Good wines
2023: no frost, some hail. Not bad
TOUGH YEARS:
2017: devastating July hail. Some crus better than others
2019: frost/hail - down 50% overall
2021: tough cool vintage; frost and reduced yields
2022: low yields due to drought (no frost/hail)
Macon + GI for WHITES only
Fuissé
Vinzelles
Loché
Solutré-Pouilly
** the 4 that also have village AC’s and…..
Montbellet
Uchizy
Macon + GI for rosé/rouge only
Serrieres
Macon + GI: what to remember
- Only a handful are limited to white:
Fuissé, Loché, Montbellet, Solutré-Pouilly, Uchizy, Vinzelles - One for rosé/red: Serrieres
- The safe answer………….
Most can produce W/R/R:
Azé, Bray, Burgy, Bussières, Chaintré, Chardonnay, Charnay-lès-Mâcon, Cruzille, Davayé, Igè, La Roche-Vineuse, Lugny, Mancey, Milly-Lamartine, Péronne, Pierreclos, Prissé, Saint-Gengoux-le-National, Vergisson, Verzé
grapes/styles for Macon-Villages AC?
White only
(simply Macon-Villages = white. Many of the 27 can be W/R/R as Macon + GI)
Communes of Pouilly-Fuisse (4)
Fuisse
Solutré-Pouilly
Vergisson
Chantré
Defining geological feature of the Maconnais
Rocks of Solutré and Vergison - two large limestone escarpments
1 hectare is how many ouvree?
24
*an old term of measuring how much land could be worked by a vigneron in one day
Macon’s village AOP’s? (5)
Pouilly-Fuisse (760 ha)
Viré-Clesse (390 ha)
Saint-Veran ( 380 ha)
Pouilly-Vinzelles (52 ha)
Pouilly-Loché (32 ha)
**all 5 only produce Chardonnay
Premier Crus in Macon
Pouilly-Fuisse, 2020 vintage forward. 1st to achieve them.
* 22 1er cru’s, 24% of area - 194ha of ~800ha
* 1st Burgundian AC to introduce premier cru level since 1943
Blanc Levrouté
Late harvest Chardonnay unique to Vire-Clesse AC
* 8 - 18 g/l RS
(Vire Clesse also produces demi-sec Chardonnay - village with some sweet wine tradition)
Cote Chalonnaise follows what river?
Saone River
Cote Chalonnaise village AC’s for red wine?
Givry
Rully
Mercurey
*all produce white/red
*Rully is 70% white. ONLY Givry/Mercurey focus on red
Cote Chalonnaise village AC’s for white wine?
Bouzeron, Montagny white ONLY
(Rully, Mercurey, Givry can produce w &r)
Mercurey AOP
- styles
- most planted grape
- og 5 1er cru
Blanc/Rouge + Premier Cru
* Largest AC in Chalonnaise ~600ha
* 85% PN - firmest, most tannic Chalonnaise Pinot with tendency to see more new oak
* 5 OG premier cru: Clos Marcilly, Clos Doyens, Le Clos du Roy, Les Fourneaux, Les Montaigus
Mercurey AOP original 5 premier cru
Clos Marcilly
Clos Doyens
Le Clos du Roy
Les Fourneaux
Les Montaigus
Rully AOP
Cote Chalonnais
70% white, 30% red + Premier Cru
* birthplace of sparkling Burgundy, circa 1800’s. Center of Cremant de Bourgogne production
* 2nd largest Chalonnais AC, after Mercurey
What AC is center of Cremant de Bourgogne production?
Rully
Givry AOP
W/R + Premier Cru - mostly red
* domaine Joblot = top estate
* Dracy-le-Fort, Givry, Jambles
Montagny AOP
- styles/grapes
- communes
100% Chardonnay + Premier Cru
* Buxy, Jully-lès-Buxy, Montagny-lès-Buxy, Saint-Vallerin
Bouzeron AOP
100% Aligoté (only village AC with no premier cru in Chalonnaise)
* A + P Villaine top producer; championing Aligoté d’Oré over Aligoté Vert
* est 1998, new AC
