France - Beaujolais Flashcards
How is the majority of Beaujolais made?
Semi-carbonic maceration
What adjustment is common?
Chaptalisation, especially in cooler years.
What maceration time on skins is common for Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages that have undergone carbonic maceration? Why?
4-5 days, to enhance fruitiness of the wine and depth of colour to make a wine fit for early consumption.
What does the blending of press wine and free run wines that have undergone carbonic maceration achieve?
It gives added colour and tannin, further making them suitable for early consumption.
How are Beaujolais and Beaujolais Village wines that have undergone carbonic maceration typically aged, and what is their typical profile?
Briefly in stainless steel and released for sale, minimising production costs.
In addition to red fruit, they have kirsch, banana and blueberry aromas typical of the method.
How might maceration time change for very good quality Beaujolais-Villages? Why?
6-9 days for greater concentration.
How long might Cru Beaujolais wines be macerated for, when they have undergone carbonic maceration?
Extended, 10-20 days.
If Cru Beaujolais winemaking is referred to as Burgundian in style, how would they be made? What would their profile be?
Destemmed and crushed, followed by fermentation and maceration on the skins.
May be aged in small or large barrels with a small percentage of new oak, raising costs.
Deeper in colour and more full bodied, with higher tannins than if made with carbonic maceration.
Which pioneers of the natural wine movement came from the region?
Nègociant Jules Chauvet and winemaker Marcel Lapierre.
