2017 Beaujolais

As the 2017 cru Beaujolais are showing up in email offers and on shelves, anyone have observations on specific wines and/or the vintage you can share? I am drinking 2014 right now and enjoying the freshness of that vintage (particularly Lapierre and Thivin). Curious about this most recent one so I can figure out how deep to go. Thanks in advance.

Is a 2017 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly considered a Cru Beaujolais? I truly don’t know the answer. I’ve had one bottle and thought it was fantastic. I wish I’d bought more.

Yes, Cote de Brouilly is one of the ten crus of Beaujolais. St-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-a-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly. Thivin has been on a role lately.

From early results I have preferred '16s to '17s in Beaujolais, but both are good. I’m hearing lots of hype about '18, but then there was also lots of hype about '15 and to me that vintage was, for the most part, too large-scaled for my tastes.

I’m interested in this as well, though I’ll probably pop a bottle of '17 Lapierre Morgon soon to see for myself. From what I’ve been reading, it generally seems a bit less structured than '16, but not as extreme in ripeness as '15. Like last year, hail was again a big issue in '17.

I published some 600 reviews of 2016 and 2017 Beaujolais wines in The Wine Advocate last year, if you can stomach the subscription… My summarized conclusions were as follows: "2016 is a good but heterogeneous vintage, with frost damage in early May followed by hail in late May and June. Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie and the northern parts of Morgon were the most severely affected. Hail is not destiny, and it was possible to produce superb wines from affected vineyards: witness Foillard’s terrific 2016 Morgon Côte du Py. But plenty of wines displayed firm, bitter tannins and a lack of energy. The vintage’s best offerings, of which there are plenty, are classically balanced, succulent examples of Beaujolais cut from the same cloth as vintages 2013 and 2014.

“2017 is a warmer, sunnier vintage of very high quality, with some producers comparing it to a hypothetical blend of 2015 and 2016 and others looking back to 2011. The wines are richer and more textural than the 2016s, without attaining the extremes of over-ripeness and hard tannin that sometimes mark the drought-impacted 2015s. Hail was a factor once again, however, and again struck Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent and Fleurie with particular ferocity. What would otherwise have been a homogenously excellent vintage is thus somewhat more varied in complexion.”

I haven’t tasted any 2018s but based on the weather and what I heard from growers I stay in touch with, there are some freakishly alcoholic wines and plenty that have problems with volatile acidity. So it sounds as if you might be right to be skeptical.

Personally, of the vintages 2012-2016, I find the 2015’s least likable. Too ripe and not enough acidity. The few 2017’s I’ve tried, Lapierre and Thivin, are excellent and, I believe, better than the 2016’s. No extremes and definitely not overripe.

That’s good news. I really like 2011s.

Interesting insights William, thanks. Not a fan of most 15s but I’ve had some decent 16s, just bought a case of Vissoux Brouilly Pierreux…and I rarely buy a case of anything. Plenty rich and textural IMHO. Nice to know about keeping an eye out for the 17s. 18 sounds depressing, which suggests the broader market will probably love it.

RT

Bouland killed it in 2017. Thivin wins big again.

Waiting on my Roilette.

Thanks, William and others, for weighing in. Sounds like a vintage to jump in to for its own merits and as a potential bridge over 18.

The 2017 Coeur de Vendanges is the Vissoux wine I wouldn’t miss. Ample, satiny and succulent, it’s just immensely pleasurable. For me, more enjoyable than most cru Beaujolais that year.

Wait the better part of a decade. Big structure.

Jean-Louis Dutraive captured the good 2015s nicely when he said his could be the best wines of his career, but he would only find out in a decade. They do not have much precedent in recent years. The wines that are not outright overripe / cooked / harshly tannic will need time. I have Bouland, Dutraive, Sylvain Chanudet, Lafarge-Vial, Boillot/Barthod and Clos de la Roilette in my cellar, some of them in magnums, but I am not touching them. Given the price, it’s low stakes poker. If they develop like '47s then it will be worth the modest investment.

Thevenet’s Morgons are also lovely and very classically proportioned in 2015 if you want to try a good one that drinks pretty well now.

Thanks, William. It’s funny, I tend to like my Beaujolais like my Kabinett, baby fresh, but yea Roilette seems to need considerable time in most vintages. I’ve only had one of my 09s. All my others, except Foillard 3.14, are long gone.

Alain builds a lot of structure into those wines. It resolves faster than a similarly structured Côte d’Or Burgundy, but even his off vintages take time. 2002s are drinking well today, for example.

Had the 1964, from an earlier proprietor, with KP Keller, John Gilman and others early last year and it was still full of life.

Just had 16 Thivin a couple months ago and thought it was just fantastic, I’ll take more of that over anything. Hopefully 2017 shows well against that.

Yea Rory I concur, but I can also say that about 2015, 2014, 2011, 2009…

I think it’s one of the most consistent, best producers in the world.

FWIW, here’s my note for the 2017 Thivin Brouilly Reverdon:

  • 2017 Château Thivin Brouilly Reverdon - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Brouilly (23/11/2018)
    Earthy, red fruits, floral, violet touches on nose, maybe even a hint of pepper. Tart red fruits, pomegranate/cranberry on the palate, lots of acidity, only faint line of tannin. May not have the depth of the best Bojo but thie Thivin delivers plenty of sappy, mouthwatering refreshment (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Have only had 1 other 2017 cru Bojo, a negoce Morgon bottling from Jean Loron… not enough data points to build any kind of picture for the vintage style as a whole, but i certainly enjoyed the Thivin and fully concur with Alfert’s comment above: this domaine just delivers over and over again. Few weeks ago had the 2014 Cuvee Godefroy and this had just kicked ahead into another gear compared to on release, just terrific…

I picked up a 2017 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie (standard cuvee, not tardive) at super market recently and had imagined to drink this soon, but the comments from William and others make me think i might be better to wait. Any thoughts and tips on the style/approachability here? Have drunk this several years ago but this was before i got down into the wine-weeds as it were!

Curious as to what you liked about the 2017 Lapierre Morgon over the 2016 version. I tried the 2017 last night and found it more ripe than the 2016 and having less structure, but it could just need a year for the baby fat to settle down a bit. That said, it did taste more exuberant than the 2016 on release.

Offers are starting to come out on the '17 Foillards. Has anyone tried them yet?