Many wine drinkers’ lone reference point for Beaujolais is the barely drinkable plonk that arrives on our shores around Thanksgiving every year. The only time that Beaujolais is normally mentioned coincides with the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday of November. Yet there is very little in common between that Beaujolais Nouveau and the more serious, oak-aged versions, especially from the 10 crus of Beaujolais. And if you’ve only experienced the former, we’re here to convince you to drink the latter.
Julie Pitoiset, director and winemaker at Château des Jacques, explains that after the Second World War, “Beaujolais produced wines with a fruity style, with new techniques like carbonic maceration,” a modern fermentation method using carbon dioxide that’s associated with Beaujolais Nouveau. Unlike the barrel-aged wines that Pitoiset makes at Château des Jacques, wine released two months after the grapes have been picked has barely had enough time to ferment let alone settle and become well integrated. Pitoiset prefers to wait at least five years to open a bottle of her estate-grown wine from Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent—two of the region’s crus—and she says from a good season they can last in the bottle for 50 years or more.
Excerpt Taken From: Robb Report
Author: Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen
