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Beaujolais is Back

Beaujolais is Back

by Kermit Lynch by Kermit Lynch

From the Archives: March 1995 Newsletter From the Archives: March 1995 Newsletter

2020 Beaujolais

2020 Beaujolais

Domaine Dupeuble   

Discount Eligible $18.00
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“This is a re-arrival, a popular wine back in stock, so I’m writing this for those who have not tried it. The most exciting Beaujolais today is not only from the Gang of Four in Morgon. You can also enjoy the same style, the same natural product from start to finish, at a bargain price. It was made for us by Monsieur Dupeuble, another anti-sulfur fanatic who is thrilled to blend alongside me the best cuvée possible, and to bottle it unfiltered. Dupeuble considers it the jewel of his cellar. Not only is it blended from the best of his cuvées, but he feels he has to filter for his French clientele, and he doesn’t like to. And it tastes unfiltered: bursting with perfume and flavor, a chewy bit of tannin, and by now a healthy deposit at the bottom of the bottle. This is one of my proudest possessions, a gorgeous, spirited bottle of pleasure.” —Kermit Lynch, March 1995 Newsletter

You would expect a winemaking family to get things right after over half a millennium of honing their craft. Sure enough, Domaine Dupleuble—founded in 1512—is one of the most reliable names in the business when it comes to making irresistibly delicious, spirit-lifting Beaujolais.
     Today, siblings Ghislaine and Stéphane Dupeuble carry on the family tradition at their estate in the southern part of the Beaujolais region. In these charming hills just north of Lyon, soils alternate between limestone and granite, and the semi-continental climate—with slight Mediterranean influence—is ideal for ripening Gamay. The Dupeubles ferment their Beaujolais via carbonic maceration: whole, intact grape clusters are thrown into tanks and coated with carbon dioxide, setting off a chemical reaction wherein each berry essentially ferments from the inside out. The resulting wines have trademark aromas of juicy red fruit and spice, and can be gulped down effortlessly. This is what good Beaujolais is all about!

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About The Region

Beaujolais

map of Beaujolais

After years of the region’s reputation being co-opted by mass-produced Beaujolais Nouveau and the prevalence of industrial farming, the fortunes of vignerons from the Beaujolais have been on the rise in the past couple of decades. Much of this change is due to Jules Chauvet, a prominent Beaujolais producer who Kermit worked with in the 1980s and arguably the father of the natural wine movement, who advocated not using herbicides or pesticides in vineyards, not chaptalizing, fermenting with ambient yeasts, and vinifying without SO2. Chief among Chauvet’s followers was Marcel Lapierre and his three friends, Jean Foillard, Guy Breton, and Jean-Paul Thévenet—a group of Morgon producers who Kermit dubbed “the Gang of Four.” The espousal of Chauvet’s methods led to a dramatic change in quality of wines from Beaujolais and with that an increased interest and appreciation for the AOC crus, Villages, and regular Beaujolais bottlings.

The crus of Beaujolais are interpreted through the Gamay grape and each illuminate the variety of great terroirs available in the region. Distinguishing itself from the clay and limestone of Burgundy, Beaujolais soils are predominantly decomposed granite, with pockets of blue volcanic rock. The primary vinification method is carbonic maceration, where grapes are not crushed, but instead whole clusters are placed in a tank, thus allowing fermentation to take place inside each grape berry.

Much like the easy-going and friendly nature of many Beaujolais vignerons, the wines too have a lively and easy-drinking spirit. They are versatile at table but make particularly good matches with the local pork sausages and charcuterie. Though often considered a wine that must be drunk young, many of the top crus offer great aging potential.

More from Beaujolais or France

Discount Eligible $27.00
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Terroirs

Great winemakers, great terroirs, there is never any hurry. And I no longer buy into this idea of “peak” maturity. Great winemakers, great terroirs, their wines offer different pleasures at different ages.

Inspiring Thirst, page 312