A Beaujolais that falls in the pantheon of the most delicious, and greatest, wines in the world?

Written by Pascaline Lepeltier, MOF

11/18/2020

The Crus du Beaujolais - Part 3 of 3

In the north, couple of crus are astride between the southern part of the Macônnais and the Beaujolais itself : Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas and Moulin-à-Vent have a different profile because of this double identity, as well as very complex variations of soils not easy to pin-point.

Map by James Sligh, Children's Atlas of Wine

Saint-Amour is the northernmost with its 310 ha located in the commune of Saint-Amour Bellevue. If the name is said to come from a Roman soldier turned missionary, it is without a doubt a very powerful marketing tool for Valentine’s Day. Yet, Saint-Amour is not per se the most gentle of the crus. Most of the vineyards are located between 650 to 1300 feet on the sides of the Mont de Bessay, with pretty hard-core slopes in the north, more gentle on the southeast. There is not as much pure granite as one would  think: you find in the north more schists and volcanic bedrock, and in the south some altered basalt and pierres bleues, the blue-green diorite like in Juliénas, Côte de Brouilly or Morgon giving the wines of this area a lot of personality. 50% of the vineyard is on old colluvial, with more or less large stones, like in the lieu-dit “La Folie”. Overall, the wines have some freshness and lift, but with surprisingly more structured tannins.  Many of these wines are well made for aging.

Terroir: 48% colluvial (piedmont), 22% granites, 9.9% diorite (pierres bleues / blue stones), and some limestone, marl and clay (giving interesting Chardonnay)

Main lieux-dits : Côte de Besset, Les Champs Grillés, Le Clos de la Brosse, Le Clos de Guillons, Le Châtelet, Le Clos des Billards, Les Bonnets, Le Mas des Tines, Vers l’Eglise, En Paradis, La Folie, Le Clos du Chapître

Top producers:

More natural: Georges Descombes, Château des Rontets (based in Pouilly-Fumé), Christophe Pacalet (négoce)

More classic: Domaine de Fa, Domaine de la Pirolette

Juliénas is a larger cru (570 ha) west of Saint-Amour, spreading over 4 communes. Julius Cesar is said to be the origin of the name, confirming the historic viticultural quality of the area. Like Saint-Amour, most of the vineyards are located on Mont de Bessay but they stretch higher on the hills (over 1300 feet), and they have more topsoil and clay giving more powerful wines. Juliénas is the big brother of Saint-Amour.  With its south-southwest exposition, it is a sunny cru, giving even denser wines in warm vintages. Other factors contribute to Juliénas’ compact structure: it is the third steepest vineyard (after Chiroubles and Côte de Brouilly), and the one with the least amount of granite. There is almost none! The terroir is dominated by the same pierres bleues (diorite) and the schists you find in Morgon. In a way, it can be considered a more structured version of this cru, especially in the past vintages. Without a doubt, Juliénas is built to age, with darker fruit and spice profile, sometimes reminding you of Syrah. You find more and more producers making the wines to be cellared.

Terroir: 42 % diorite (pierres bleues / blue stones), 29% colluvial (piedmont), 14% schists, 3% granites

Main lieux-dits : Les Capitans, La Bottière, Les Mouilles, Vayolette, Les Fouillouses, Beauvernay, Bessay, En Rizière, Bois de la Salle, Cotoyon

Top producers

More natural: Smith-Chapel, Yann Bertrand, Christophe Pacalet (négoce), Rémi Dufaitre

More classic: Château de Julienas, Armand Heitz, Domaine des Marrans

Chénas is the smallest cru (240 ha), overarching Moulin-à-Vent on the northern side. Both crus should be thought of together, as they are quite similar - the same way Saint-Amour and Juliénas share a lot - but Chénas is unfortunately way less known. This is due to its size, and because historically they were sold under the most prestigious label of Moulin-à-Vent… some people think the best Moulin-à-Vent wines come from Chénas! The vineyards vary a lot depending on their location. In the western part, you find some steep plots growing on the slopes of the Pic de Rémont, while towards the east and La Chapelle-de-Guinchay (home base of natural wine hero Jules Chauvet), the hills are way more gentle. For the soil, the cru is split in two: pink granite more or less decomposed with large quartz crystals and red sands in the west and the center, colluvial piedmont in the east. Overall, this gives powerful, fleshy wines, with a Northern Rhône touch (liquorice, pepper) : when coming from old vines on little top soils, these bottles are some of the most long-lived of the Beaujolais!

Terroir: 49% piedmonts, 47% granites, the rest is diverse

Main Lieux-dits : Aux Bois Retour, Les Brureaux, En Rémont, Les Journets, Les Gandelins, Les Melardières, Les Daroux, En Perelle, En Nervat, Aux Blémonts, Les Paquelets, Les Boccarts

Top producers:

More natural:  Anthony Thevenet, Damien Coquelet, Domaine Thillardon, Famille Dutraive (négoce) Christophe Pacalet (négoce)

More classic: Domaine Piron-Lameloise, Domaine des Pierres, Domaine des Bruyères, Yohan Lardy

Moulin-à-Vent is probably, with Morgon, the most famous cru of the Beaujolais. Its name can be found on wine lists back to the 19th century, commanding prices almost equivalent to grand crus Burgundy at the time. André Jullien in his remarkable survey of the vineyards of the world (Topographie de tous les vignobles connus) in 1816 considered it of “First Class”, the top-ranking position. Due to the historic ownership of the properties in the area (the bankers and silk manufacturers of Lyon) the places where this cru was sold, and its aging potential, Moulin-à-Vent carried for a long time an aristocratic aura, setting itself apart  and creating a real cultural divide with the other more humble crus. It was the first cru to ask for specific recognition in 1924, getting the AOC in 1936. But over the last three decades, Morgon, by contrast the rebellious, creative peasant, took over the crown with the likes of Lapierre and his Gang of Four leading the charge. Today, Moulin-à-Vent is shaking up, and living up more and more to its spectacular potential. 

The cru owes its name to a real windmill built in 1550 still standing at 278 m elevation (it was recently renovated by its owners, Denis Chastel Sauzet from Château Portier), and not to a village like all the other crus. Its 640 hectares stretch over two communes, Chénas and Romanèche-Thorins. Until the beginning of the 20th century, some wines were sold under the name “Vins de Thorins”, from the most famous lieu-dit of the area.  Moulin-à-Vent was the first cru in 2009 to undertake the geological survey of its terroir to understand the complexity of its 71 historical lieux-dits. The vineyards are neither the highest nor the steepest of the Beaujolais, sprawling from 500 feet up to 1500 on gentler slopes and mostly east facing. The main hill shared with Chénas is the Pic de Rémont where you find the highest climate-Rochegrès. On the western part, especially on the top, you have some pink and red granite with a lot of quartz called “Granites de Fleurie”.  Some looking like bacon are nicknamed “lard”.  On the eastern part, you will find flatter, colluvial soils mixing altered granite, clay and alluvial - overall heavier soil than in Saint-Amour, Chénas or Chiroubles where you have more sand mixed in these young alluvial-colluvial terroirs. Clay gives broader wines. For centuries, manganese was extracted from a mine located in the heart of the AOC. It is said to give a specific taste and structure to the wines, but one should be careful when making a  direct link between this mineral compound and the organoleptic profile of the wines.

Moulin-à-Vent tends to be the cru with the most similitude to Burgundy, because of a longer use of traditional maceration instead of the carbonic and semi-carbonic maceration. It is also not by chance that you find Burgundy producers involved here, like Château des Jacques owned by Jadot, or Thibault Liger-Belair.  Aromatically, the wines also lean more on the wild red fruits profile, very floral (iris), with some structured tannins but not too edgy - definitely meant to age up to 20 years and more in good vintages.

Terroir: 53% granites, 37% piémonts, some limestone, sandstone, marls

Main lieux-dits (71) : Aux Caves, Au Michelon, Les Vérillats, Champ de Cour, La Rochelle, Rochenoire, Le Moulin à Vent, Les Thorins, La Tour du Bief, Le Dime

Top producers:

More natural: Michiel Guignier, Julie Balagny, Domaine Th. Liger-Belair, Christophe Pacalet (négoce), Mee Godard, Ophélie Dutraive

More classic: Château des Jacques, Paul Janin, Isabelle & Bruno Peraud, Yohan Lardy, Domaine de Prion, Domaine du Vissoux, Domaine des Terres Dorées, Château de Moulin-à-Vent, Jules Desjourneys

Map by James Sligh, Children's Atlas of Wine

Fleurie became within the last 20 years one of the most known, and sought for, crus du Beaujolais, and for multiple great reasons!  This region is home to remarkable terroir and fantastic vignerons, producing very harmonious wines which combine both lifted elegance and serious density (for me, not unlike Chambolle, Volnay or Barolo).  Located southwest of Moulin-à-Vent, its 860 ha are higher up, with steeper slopes on the west (up to 50%!!), flatter plots on the east and varied expositions everywhere. The western backbone of this cru is a range of famous hills and peaks, including the Fût d’Avenas (2,200 feet), where the winery of Julien Sunier is also located. The Colline de la Madone, created from the same geological phenomena that these peaks, offers a stunning point of view of Fleurie : at 1,300 feet, you can contemplate most of the appellation and understand its fantastic potential. Finally, we have a cru whose terroir is mostly composed of granite! It is so specific it has its own name, the pink “Granite de Fleurie-Odénas”, and it covers 90% of the AOC (in its pure form or weathered).   Only Chiroubles is more granitic (at 100%.). Overall the soils of Fleurie are quite coherent, the only variation to be found is the depth of the topsoil and the elevation/exposure on the western part (like in La Madone, Les Labourons or En Rémont), and the amount of clay on the southeastern sector (like in Champagne or Grand’Cour.) Most of the piémont vineyards are composed of sand with little clay from the alteration of the granite.They are lighter soils, giving more uplifted wines than in Chénas or Moulin-à-Vent. All in all, the wines can be superb! The fruit tends to always have a freshness at its core, a lot of violet and herbal hints. The structure is subtle and lavish at the same time, with a real aging-potential of 15-20 years in the best years and from the top producers - I am still enjoying some Clos de la Roilette from the early 00s and they are fantastic!

Terroir: 90% pink granites rose, 9% piémont

Main lieux-dits: La Madone (center), Grille-Midi (south), Les Labourons, Les Moriers, Les Garants, La Presle, La Chapelle des Bois, Champagne (southeast), La Roilette (northeast), Grand Pré

Top producers:

More natural: Domaine de la Grand’Cour / Jean-Louis Dutraive, Yvon Métras, Julie Balagny, Jean Foillard, Marcel Joubert, Domaine Chamonard, Yann Bertrand

More classic: Clos de la Roilette, Château des Bachelards, Domaine Chignard, Domaine Lafarge-Vial (owned by the Lafarge family in Volnay), Domaine de Prion, Domaine de Fa

Chiroubles is located just west-southwest of Fleurie, and it is still one the best kept secrets of the area. Stretching its vines in the sole commune of Chiroubles, this tiny cru (370 ha) is the highest of all, with an average of 1,200 feet elevation (going from 800 to 1,800 feet). It is also the only one whose terroir is composed solely of granite, with traces here and there of a very, very thin layer of a pale clay called smectite. It is thus the most homogenous cru: the only difference between plots is not the soil, but the depth of topsoil (rarely deeper than 2 feet), the altitude and exposure. The vineyards are usually above 30% steepness, facing east and south like in an amphitheater. Some are farmed on small terraces (think Côte-Rôtie!) Because of the altitude and the absence of deep clay, the wines always carry lightness, incisiveness and over perform in warm vintages! They may have been considered the lightest and brightest of all the crus but they are not tenuous, and the last few years they reach a noticeable balance of tension, freshness and nuanced layers of wild red berries, peony and liquorice.  Definitely a cru to watch and age, especially as really talented producers are now bottling it!

Terroir: 100% pink granites.

Main Lieux-dits: Javernand, Bel-Air, Les Ponthieux, Chatenay, Les Roches, Tempère, Fontenelle, Rochefort, Grille Midi, Les Bonnes

Top producers:

More natural: Smith-Chapel, Damien Coquelet, Georges Descombes

More classic: Daniel Bouland, Domaine des Marrans

Morgon is today on the top of the podium in terms of recognition thanks to the committed work of a handful of producers since the late 70s (with Marcel Lapierre at the helm), and to spectacular lieux-dits, including the most famous of them, the Côte de Py. In a way, this is the beating heart of the “postmodern beaujolais”, with its rebels, and vignerons-artists located in the village of Villié-Morgon, sole commune of the appellation. One of the other reasons for Morgon’s fame is the size of the AOC itself, as well as the strong personalities of some of its main lieux-dits. As producers have been making quite consistent expressions of these specific climats, they manage to give them a well-defined identity recognizable by wine lovers -  we know what to expect from Corcelette or Javernières the way we do with Lavaux Saint-Jacques or Les Amoureuses for instance. Finally like in Moulin-à-Vent, the aging potential of the cru has helped to its reputation.

Morgon is the second largest cru after Brouilly. This means a large variation of terroir and expression in the wines. You can have up to 3 weeks difference in picking time between the northwestern sector like in the lieu-dit Saint-Joseph at 1,500 feet elevation, and the southeastern, warmer, and flatter foothills of the Côte de Py. The majority of the vineyards are east exposed with steeper slopes on the west side, and very soft ones on the east, except for the Py. In terms of soil, Morgon is famous for its rotten stones, pierres pourries. These stones are highly weathered and altered schists and volcanic diorites with high content of manganese and iron giving deeply structured, tannic, long-aging wines with a smoky dark fruit and savory wild profile. A verb even exists to describe this flavor profile - morgonner! Most of this soil is found around the Côte de Py and Javernières in the southeastern area, yet it represents only a minority of the soil type of the AOC (only 11%). The majority is made of granite, from pure to highly decomposed, especially in the northwestern part where you have the lieux-dits Corcelette and Douby, and the southwestern area with the climat Les Charmes higher up on the hill (1,200 feet). Here the wines are more lifted, silkier and easier to approach in their youth without losing their aging potential. What matters again is the depth of the topsoil, the altitude, and the exposition of the slope. It is really quite fantastic today to be able to taste more and more single-vineyards wines of the highest quality in Morgon as it really highlights the complexity and age-worthiness that Gamay can reach depending on the terroir. As producers are expanding their ranges and offering more and more cuvées parcellaires (vineyard-designated wines)!

Terroir: 51% granites, 37% piémonts, 11% diorite (pierres bleues / blue stones) & schists (rotten stones)

Main Lieux-dits : Côte de Py (southeast, pierre bleues), Aux Charmes (southwest, altered granite), Grand Cras, Corcelette (northwest, granites), Bellevue, Javernières (alteration of pierres bleues at the foothills of the Côte de Py), Douby (north, granite), Aux Chênes, Château Gaillard, Fontriante

Top producers:

More natural: Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thevenet, Guy Breton, Domaine Chamonard, Georges Descombes, Damien Coquelet, Mee Godard, Julien Sunier, Karim Vionnet, Alex Foillard, Kevin Descombes, Jeanne Chanudet

More classic: Dominique Piron, Jean-Marc Burgaud, Louis Claude Desvignes, Daniel Bouland

Map by James Sligh, Children's Atlas of Wine

Régnié is the newest cru to be recognized in Beaujolais. While the others were made official in the 30s and 40s, Régnié only became official in 1988. Located southwest of Morgon, it is one of the highest (1,000 feet average) : its profile is quite close to Chiroubles in terms of brightness of fruit and acidity even though there is more soil variation. The 390 hectares of vineyards stretches over 2 communes, Régnié-Durette and Lantignié, from 600 feet up to 1,500 feet near Thulon and Les Bastys on the slopes of the Avenais mountain. Elevation definitely has a big influence. Most of the terroir is composed of decomposed pink granite with a lot of gore and sand. The soil is quite poor, producing delicate wines but able to show a lifted core of minerality when made from the oldest vines. Some areas have veins of altered volcanic silicas especially in the piedmont, producing broader expression of the Gamay. With climate change and warmer vintages, Régnié is without a doubt a cru that is conserving some freshness without losing its intricate character. 

Terroir: 64% pink granites, 34% piémont

Main lieux-dits : La Basse Ronze, La Haute Plaigne, Les Chastys, Vallières, La Pierre, Les Reyssiers, Aux Bruyères, Oeillat, Croix Penet, Les Bois, Les Braves

Top producers:

More natural: Christian Ducroux, Charly Thevenet, Georges Descombes, Julien Sunier, Antoine Sunier

More classic: Jean-Marc Burgaud, Dominique Piron, Nicolas Chemarin

Brouilly is the largest cru in size (1300 ha) and production with an average of 8 million bottles a year, thus one of the best known as widely distributed world-wide. Yet its identity is not as clear as a majority of the wines are blends from a diversity of soils. Brouilly has an image of a friendly, accessible, all-purpose, Beaujolais denser than Chiroubles or Régnié. The appellation circles around the Mont Brouilly and the Côtes-de-Brouilly Cru, with most of the vineyards located on all the sides but the northwestern. The average elevation is 900 feet, with a lot of variation of steepness. A large acreage of vineyards is facing north, which is a big plus to balance the warmth of the latest vintages. In terms of terroir, Brouilly is at the crossroads of four main soil types, all quite poor. On the western side (Saint-Etienne-la Varenne and Quincié) weathered pink granite dominates with little clay.  In Cercié in the north, the volcanic diorite is more important, giving less acidic soil, with more gravel and clay. In Charentay, and south of Saint-Lager, limestone appears with sandstones, and colluvial gravel. And finally, in the south, east of Odénas, schists, porphyria and diorites, blue rotten stones composed most of this sector. You also find by the rivers some alluvial soil. Since 2018, Brouilly is at the heart of the UNESCO Geopark of the Beaujolais, to highlight the biodiversity and terroir of the area.

Terroir: 46% granite, 34% piémonts, 9% colluvial, 5% sedimentary soil, 4% diorite (pierres bleues / blue stones), 1% clay

Main Lieux-dits : Pissevieille (north, volcanic silica), Saburin (southwest, granite), Briante, Pierreux, Combiaty, Les Platures, Les Nazins, La Roche, Les Bruyères, La Terrière

Top producers:

More natural: Jean-Claude Lapalu, Marcel Joubert, Domaine de la Grand’Cour, Georges Descombes

More classic: Domaine du Vissoux, Château Thivin

Côte de Brouilly, last but not least, stretches over 320 ha in the very heart of the Brouilly AOCs, with vineyards covering the slopes of the Mont Brouilly. Not the highest mountain of the area (its peak reaches only 1,450 feet) the Mont is though one of the most symbolic as it harbors the chapel of Notre-Dame-aux-Raisins. Also known as “Our Lady of the Grapes”, Notre-Dame-aux-Raisins was built after 3 devasting frosts and powdery mildew attacks in the 1850s as an appeal to the mercy of God to provide plentiful crops. Every year since, a pilgrimage happens at the beginning of harvest, with winemakers bringing beautiful clusters to offer them to the statue of Mary, while blessed by a priest. The view from the chapel is of course stunning and offers a great perspective of the complex landscape of Beaujolais. As a member of the international network of UNESCO Geopark, the other attraction of the Mont Brouilly is the Geoscope and trails allowing you to discover in a very pedagogical way the geology of the region. 

Overlapping 4 communes, all vineyards are located on slopes. It is the second steepest cru after Chiroubles, with 15% of the plots showing more than 50% steepness... but not very high (the highest vineyard is at 1,000 feet). All the sides are covered, including the west, which is one of the rare occurrences. Mont Brouilly is not really a volcano itself, but the remains of the edges of an old volcano weathered over millions of years, thus it is mostly composed of diorite, the rotten stones you find also in Morgon, and granite. The division is pretty clear though, the granite is mostly located on the western slope, and the pierres pourries on the northeastern side to the southern part. The rest is covered with more alluvial and colluvial sediments. The vineyards rich in diorite on the east facing tend to be the most favored plot, as they are protected from storms, and the higher clay content allows for better water retention They are also richer in magnesium, and less sensitive to hydric stress. It is a great terroir, with quite stable conditions for high quality viticulture, giving great ripeness while preserving freshness. They can taste like some Morgon! On the northern and western side, the wines are lighter, with less density -they taste more like a Brouilly. Once again, it is important to know where the plots are located! To quote Christophe Pacalet, with their notes of plum and their spiciness, the Côte de Brouilly “can be kept but can be drunk early too”.

Terroirs: 40% schists (pierres pourries / rotten stones) & diorite (pierres bleues / blue stones), 24% granites, 20% colluvial, 12% piémonts

Main Lieux-dits: Chardignon, L’Héronde (east, altered volcanic), Croix Dessaigne, Brouilly (southwest granite & volcanic), Chavannes, Le Pavé, Godefroy, Berthaudières, Côte de Brouilly

Top producers:

More natural: Jean-Claude Lapalu, Alex Foillard, Rémi Dufaitre, Pierre Cotton, Christophe Pacalet (négoce)

More classic: Château Thivin, France Gonzalvez, Claire & Fabien Chasselay

VINTAGES
What to expect from the last vintages in Beaujolais? The ultimate value for age-worthy, world-class wines from the best vignerons made to age for decades.

2019 - A really good vintage, with unfortunately less quantity due to once again spring frosts and summer hails (August 18th). Overall, the production was down almost 50%, with some areas more affected than others. Flowering happened during a cold wave, followed by a warm and very dry summer but for some rains in August that helped to avoid hydric stress. September was nice with warm days and cold nights, preserving the acidity while producing concentrated berries. The wines have color and a fresh density, without feeling alcoholic. They are built to age.

2018 - A complex year producing good to excellent wines, depending on the Cru and the producer. In general yields were good but in certain plots. The winter and the spring were very wet, which was a blessing as the summer was incredibly dry. No rain fell whatsoever from mid-June to harvest which began the last days of August. The profile is not very far from the powerful and unusual 2015, but the groundwater accumulated during the winter protected the vines from shutting down from hydric stress. The richness of the wines is undeniable, but they have a surprising, welcomed freshness, with less alcohol than the 2015. Compared to the 2017, overall, they are a little softer and rounder. But be careful : some wines will still show heat, heaviness, dry tannins or even volatile acidity, while others, especially from altitude plots or on diorite-rich soil like in Côte de Brouilly, Régnié, Fleurie, Morgon, will be more balanced and built for cellaring with impressive potential. The use of stems was a plus to keep the freshness too.

2017 - 2017 could have been really great for all if it was not for the devastating July hails that affected a lot of vineyards in Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent but also Morgon and Chiroubles. For those impacted, drastic sorting was needed, leading to the production of more concentrated wines. Yet overall, the vintage was on the warmer side, and the perfect quality of the grapes when untouched by the hail led to dense, fleshy bottlings. Like in every complex vintage, the best vignerons produced remarkable wines, and the cooler plots allowed the grapes to maintain tension and more obvious minerality. Morgon, Régnié and Chiroubles showed more regularity, Fleurie. Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, Brouilly and Côte-de-Brouilly are more mixed but the best are worth hunting down!

2016 - Once again a vintage affected by frost and hail (May 27th, then June 24th in Fleurie, Chiroubles, Régnié specifically), but where vineyards could bear grapes, it produced some great wines if you know where to look. It is a very uneven year in terms of yields, with producers losing up to 90% of their crop - like in Fleurie - while others could harvest a very generous amount of fruits. In this case, the wines may be a little diluted with no real personality if the vigneron did not crop during the summer to insure perfect physiological ripeness. Once again, the precision of the good producers can be easily recognized. For those affected by the hails, the wines tend to be logically more concentrated. Yet 2016 is more lifted with more vivid, brighter fruit than 2015, and the best will age for a decade. Morgon, Brouilly, Côte de Brouilly were more consistent as less affected by the weather events.

2015 - By now, we all know 2015 was a very concentrated, powerful vintage, due to the weather and the very low yield (sometimes lower than 20 hl/ha which is nothing for the productive Gamay). With a very warm and dry summer, the vintage was saved from turning Southern-Rhône like by some rains mid-August. Yet harvest date was critical as some warm winds concentrated the berries during the last phase of the growing season. The main challenge was to preserve acidity and to control the alcohol levels. This was not achieved everywhere, leading to dense, dark, bold, heavy wines, with some issues of volatile acidity and brett. Yet once again, the great producers pulled out superb bottles, with more tension than 2003, 2005 and 2009, with an aging potential of 10 to 20 years. Morgon, Fleuri, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas, Côte-de-Brouilly led the pack.