Beaujolais

Beaujolais is a historical province and a wine-producing region in France. It is now part of the Burgundy région for administrative purposes.

Wine

The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, and more recently for the enormously popular Beaujolais nouveau.

Almost all Beaujolais wines are reds of the Gamay grape varietal. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made with Chardonnay grapes. Beaujolais tends to be a very light bodied wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity, and strikes some as thin and sour, although this is likely to be avoided if it is served with food.

Beaujolais Villages makes up 25% of the region's production, and can come from the vineyards surrounding the ten villages in Beaujolais. Wine from these individual crus can be more full-bodied, darker in color, and significantly longer lived. Unfortunately for the unknowing wine drinker, these wines are rarely helpful enough to put the word "Beaujolais" on the label, leaving one with little recourse but to memorize the list. The ten crus are: Morgon , Moulin-a-vent , Brouilly , Côte de Brouilly , Saint Amour , Chiroubles , Chénas , Fleurie , Juliénas , and most recently, Régnié .

By far, the largest production comes from the négociant Georges Duboeuf, who makes the well-known "flower labels".