Beaujolais [boh-zhuh-LAY]

from

The Beaujolais area, located in the southern part of France’s BURGUNDY region, starts just north of Lyons and extends for about 35 miles north to the city of Mâcon. Beaujolais is different from most of Burgundy because of its focus on the GAMAY grape for its red wines, instead of PINOT NOIR. As with many of the France’s regions, years of experience have proven which grape is best for an area, and for the granite-laden hills of Beaujolais, it’s Gamay. To date, no other location in the world has been able to produce Gamaybased wines as well as Beaujolais. Most of the wines from Beaujolais are red, with tiny amounts of ROSÉ and white. Beaujolais winemakers employ a different red winemaking process called macération carbonique (see CARBONIC MACERATION), a technique used during primary FERMENTATION to make light red wines with intense color, a fresh fruity flavor, and low TANNINS—in short, a wine that can be drunk early. Most wines for the basic APPELLATION Beaujolais AC are produced in the southern part of the region. These wines must contain minimum alcohol levels of 9 percent for red and rosé wines and 91⁄2 percent for white. Beaujolais Supérieur AC wines, which are produced in the same areas as the Beaujolais AC, must have lower yields per acre (usually an indicator of higher-quality wines) and minimum alcohol levels that are 1 percent higher. The next highest-quality appellation is Beaujolais-Villages AC, a collection of thirty-nine villages with superior vineyard sites in the northern part of Beaujolais. The highest-quality level is comprised of ten individual, CRU-status villages, each with its own individual appellation. They are BROUILLY, CHÉNAS, CHIROUBLES, CÔTE DE BROUILLY, FLEURIE, JULIÉNAS, MORGON, MOULIN-À-VENT, RÉGNIÉ, and SAINT-AMOUR. These villages produce the best and most-expensive wines, with Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon, and Chénas considered the most full-bodied (see BODY) and longest AGING. Beaujolais Nouveau is a special category of 7- to 9-week-old wine that’s released annually on the third Thursday of November. This “new” wine, sometimes called Beaujolais Primeur, is meant to be drunk very young. It’s made from the better grapes of the basic Beaujolais appellation and is usually quite good.