It’s not lost on me that virtually every post about Beaujolais often entails the author going to all kinds of lengths to try to extoll the virtues of this region to a point where it could be argued, through sheer volume, it’s the single most hyped “under-hyped” region on the planet.
And make no mistake, I’m 100% on that train with everyone else posting notes to Instagram, but that wasn’t always the case.
When I first started in wine, we were neck deep in the philosophies of “white wine with fish”, “all pink wine is sweet”, and “Beaujolais is meant for November”, which made a lot of the most interesting wines particularly hard to find. Worse than that, a lot of the “general info” books on wine often suggested that Beaujolais seldom had good vintages, *rarely ever* had any age-worthy vintages, and even with the best wines from the best producers and crus, you’d be lucky to get 10 years out of the bottle, and as a beginner, I absolutely fell for this.
And then 2005 came along, and wouldn’t you know it, the Beaujolais were really good. Then 2009, 2010, and all of a sudden it wasn’t so rare to have really good Beaujolais at all. Claiming it was all due to vintage, critics started telling people to buy it all up.
But after that, when we got into the 2011s, the 2012s, and 2013s, it became crystal clear that all this long-standing advice about bad vintages, carbonic maceration, and not being age-worthy were just shattered, but if there were one *good* piece of advice I would put in place of all that garbage would be this:
**If you chose to try Beaujolais because of the hype but only tasted one or two before deciding it wasn’t for you, do yourself a favor and try a couple different ones.**
I’ve had a lot of Pinot Noir from all over Burgundy, and the differences between them can truly be astonishing, but the Gamay in Beaujolais is just on its own level. I’ve had wines that remind me of Cote Rotie, Gigondas, Oregon Pinot, and Rioja, and one of my favorite bottles of 2024 was a 2013 Chateau Thivin Cotes de Brouilly.
**2023 M&C Lapierre “Le Beaujolais”, Beaujolais AOC, Burgundy**- In the myriad of different Beaujolais out there, the best way I can describe this wine is simply delicious. It sounds obtuse because it kind of is, but it’s like “simply delicious” keeps lighting up like a neon sign every time it hits your tastebuds. According to Kermit Lynch’s website, these grapes are sourced from just outside Morgon, and through the magic of Lapierre, they are turned into a silky smooth, fresh, nicely acidic red with beautiful ripe strawberries, raspberries, tart and black cherry, with the slightest hints of rose petals and Raspberry Zinger herbal tea.
It’s amazing how something so full-flavored and punchy can be so gentle on the palate.
It’s just one of the “smoothest” reds I’ve had in a long time.
With a lot of Bordeaux, Rhone, GC Red and White Burgundy, virtually all GG Riesling, and actually all Nebbiolo, as much as you might **want** to, it’s not always easy to gulp down an entire glass in one sip, but this bottle feels like it was *designed* for that because, well, it kind of was.
My only regret is that I didn’t get one to savor, and one to gulp like a madman.
ncbluetj
It’s great when a world-class wine does not cost a mortgage payment. Love Lapierre
PoweredbyPinot
The best wine I’ve had recently was 2020 Breton Cote de Brouilly. It was amazing.
Three statements make me stop taking someone seriously about wine: “anything but chardonnay” “riesling sucks” and “beaujolais is cheap plonk”. All of which I have heard from people.
And then they say something along the lines of those wines being “for women”, which is not-so-thinly-veiled sexism. They’re saying women have simple, bad taste. Only men know serious wine.
Anyway, happy to read this. Beaujolais is great.
rawdealbuffy
Wasn’t a fan. Felt like it was Raisins Gauloise but $20 more expensive.
4 Comments
**Notes at the bottom**
It’s not lost on me that virtually every post about Beaujolais often entails the author going to all kinds of lengths to try to extoll the virtues of this region to a point where it could be argued, through sheer volume, it’s the single most hyped “under-hyped” region on the planet.
And make no mistake, I’m 100% on that train with everyone else posting notes to Instagram, but that wasn’t always the case.
When I first started in wine, we were neck deep in the philosophies of “white wine with fish”, “all pink wine is sweet”, and “Beaujolais is meant for November”, which made a lot of the most interesting wines particularly hard to find. Worse than that, a lot of the “general info” books on wine often suggested that Beaujolais seldom had good vintages, *rarely ever* had any age-worthy vintages, and even with the best wines from the best producers and crus, you’d be lucky to get 10 years out of the bottle, and as a beginner, I absolutely fell for this.
And then 2005 came along, and wouldn’t you know it, the Beaujolais were really good. Then 2009, 2010, and all of a sudden it wasn’t so rare to have really good Beaujolais at all. Claiming it was all due to vintage, critics started telling people to buy it all up.
But after that, when we got into the 2011s, the 2012s, and 2013s, it became crystal clear that all this long-standing advice about bad vintages, carbonic maceration, and not being age-worthy were just shattered, but if there were one *good* piece of advice I would put in place of all that garbage would be this:
**If you chose to try Beaujolais because of the hype but only tasted one or two before deciding it wasn’t for you, do yourself a favor and try a couple different ones.**
I’ve had a lot of Pinot Noir from all over Burgundy, and the differences between them can truly be astonishing, but the Gamay in Beaujolais is just on its own level. I’ve had wines that remind me of Cote Rotie, Gigondas, Oregon Pinot, and Rioja, and one of my favorite bottles of 2024 was a 2013 Chateau Thivin Cotes de Brouilly.
**2023 M&C Lapierre “Le Beaujolais”, Beaujolais AOC, Burgundy**- In the myriad of different Beaujolais out there, the best way I can describe this wine is simply delicious. It sounds obtuse because it kind of is, but it’s like “simply delicious” keeps lighting up like a neon sign every time it hits your tastebuds. According to Kermit Lynch’s website, these grapes are sourced from just outside Morgon, and through the magic of Lapierre, they are turned into a silky smooth, fresh, nicely acidic red with beautiful ripe strawberries, raspberries, tart and black cherry, with the slightest hints of rose petals and Raspberry Zinger herbal tea.
It’s amazing how something so full-flavored and punchy can be so gentle on the palate.
It’s just one of the “smoothest” reds I’ve had in a long time.
With a lot of Bordeaux, Rhone, GC Red and White Burgundy, virtually all GG Riesling, and actually all Nebbiolo, as much as you might **want** to, it’s not always easy to gulp down an entire glass in one sip, but this bottle feels like it was *designed* for that because, well, it kind of was.
My only regret is that I didn’t get one to savor, and one to gulp like a madman.
It’s great when a world-class wine does not cost a mortgage payment. Love Lapierre
The best wine I’ve had recently was 2020 Breton Cote de Brouilly. It was amazing.
Three statements make me stop taking someone seriously about wine: “anything but chardonnay” “riesling sucks” and “beaujolais is cheap plonk”. All of which I have heard from people.
And then they say something along the lines of those wines being “for women”, which is not-so-thinly-veiled sexism. They’re saying women have simple, bad taste. Only men know serious wine.
Anyway, happy to read this. Beaujolais is great.
Wasn’t a fan. Felt like it was Raisins Gauloise but $20 more expensive.