2019 Beaujolais

I’m late to the Beaujolais game. My friend recently opened a bottle from Moulin a Vent at dinner and I thought it tasted like a ~$60 California pinot. His price on the wine was $38 and he told me that Beaujolais should be priced much higher but for some reason it remains undervalued. I was shocked such value could be found for my taste. I also remember watching Somm and it was recommended as a value wine by Sommeliers as well. I didn’t see a thread on the 2019 Beaujolais impressions and thought I would start one.

Where do you source your cru Beaujolais and what time of year? Seems like the type of wine that is purchased quickly on K&L, Envoyer, Total Wine, etc. and then disappears. I don’t see much on wine auction sites and would rather not buy it aged as it appears to be tastier younger. I’d like to get in on this action!

I don’t have much experience in this space but Foillard is the name I see most often associated with a good producer in Beaujolais. I recently opened a BV 2017 and it was still delicious.

Jean-Michel Dupré from KL is something I enjoy that’s cheap and goes quickly.

A sampling of threads here. As a result, your post almost seems like you’re trolling. Especially the comment about pricing and popularity.

I think most 2019 will arrive in the fall. 2018 isn’t a “loved“ vintage.

Seems harsh. I just take it as Bryan has a newfound interest in Beaujolais and is looking for things to buy in this vintage.

I haven’t heard much firsthand reporting yet about the 2019 vintage. I have not been happy with my limited forays into 2018, though not as bad as 2015. I have read that 2019 is a small crop due to frost, and that there was a lot of sun and not much rain for much of the season. I will hope for a vintage with more freshness than 2018.

While I’m skeptical of any massive upswing in pricing as people discover Beaujolais, there has been steady upward price pressure for the top producers in recent years. Tariffs will also impact pricing.

As for producers, there are certainly no shortage of recommendations here. Honestly, the board favorites are mostly safe bets. Hard to go wrong with Thivin as a place to start.

Bryan, glad you discovered the beauty of this storied, and once maligned, little region! I drink a bottle most weeks as it pairs so well with most simple dishes, including seafood like tuna and salmon, especially grilled.

Most years I buy:

Thivin
Roilette
Lapierre
Bouland
Foillard
Metras

All very different, by the way.

I have not tried any 2019s but have already ordered Roilette and Lapierre’s delicious Morgon San Soufre.

Not doing any trolling. I’m just used to being able to find recent vintages in abundance.

I’ve seen these come up a lot and will check them out! Some of these producers seem to offer more than one bottle (vineyard?). Do you just buy the “regular” cru Beaujolais bottle?

If the OP goes into all of these producers, he is pretty much set for Bojo… one I would definitely add for Morgon is LC Desvignes. His Javernieres is yummy and can age gracefully.

Byran -

The answer to that question often turns on the vintage. In the better vintages, say like 2014, I may buy all of the cuvees from some of these producers, where in lesser years, perhaps only what I consider to be their flagship. So, it depends.

Generally:

On Roilette, I usually only buy the Cuvee Tardive over the normale as the up-charge is minimal and the quality difference can be significant. I buy the Griffe du Marquis in most years.

I buy the base Thivin CdB in every single year. The U.S. has only recently been carrying some of the SVD cuvees, and I generally try to grab them in quality years. They are good, but often much more expensive than the base CdB, and not always worth that up-charge. This is one of my favorite buys in most years.

Lapierre, the San Soufre every year, it’s exceptional. The Lapierre Lapierre is often to large-scaled for me.

Bouland slays it across the board in quality years. I generally buy across the board, with the Delys Cuvee being the flagship. I found the 2018 Delys a bit OTT.

Foillard makes one of the greatest Beaujolais in the marketplace, the 3.14. Can be stunning stuff.

I like the Metras normale, really lovely stuff, but it and all of the upper-cuvees have gotten quite pricey. The flagship cuvee, Ultime, can also be stunning. The 2014 is a jaw-dropper.

This list has wines in the sub-$30 range (most sub-$40), which is amazing given the quality, up to wines above $75, the 3.14 and l’Ultime, which are world-class wines by my definition. I just bought some 2017 Roilette Cuvee Tardive for $23, which is just a stupid price for what is already one of my top 5 QPRs in the world of wine, normally it is around $28.

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I’ll agree I was harsh and offer my apology. Here is a brief discussion about climats in Beaujolais: Wine Review Online - Beaujolais: A Versatile Wine.

Thank you sir! This was exactly what I was looking for. I think I’ve been myopic in buying a lot of pinot noir in the same price range, and have stopped trying to search out variety and value for similar taste. Especially considering my wife and I need a lot more daily drinkers that don’t necessarily pair with food. It’s been a struggle finding those at brick and mortar retail stores.

I had a 2019 Village from Burgaud (I think he is the nephew of the more well known chap with the same surname) the other day and it was very very good, everything I look for in Bojo and great value to boot.

I’m too much of a piker to chase after things like Foillard and Metras. I would double Robert’s recommendations on Roilette and Bouland. I very much like their regular cuvee and also think the Cuvee Tardive is a bargain. I have been loathe to plump for the Marquis de Griffe, but 2017 was irresistible to me. I haven’t tasted the 18s or 19. With Bouland, I tend to go for either the Delys or the Courcelette, though you really can’t go wrong.

I need to mention one new domaine that I recently discovered at a Weygandt tasting, les Grosses Pierres. I thought it was the best first tasting of a Beaujolais I have had since I first bumped into Bouland, I think 10 years ago. The cuvees I bought were the Morgon Douby and the Chiroubles Grille Midi (which, going by price is the flagship wine.) None of these wines except the Marquis de Griffe should cost more than $35. You can find most all of them for under $30 or just over that.

No mention of Breton. Worth a look?

Yes, he is one of the Gang of Four. distributed by KL: Guy Breton | Our Wines | Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

guy breton is definitely the sleeper hit. the 09 morgon vv is a stunner.

https://www.wineterroirs.com/ Is a good source for write ups of wineries, mostly Loire, but plenty of Beaujolais.

I had a 17 Regnie from Burgaud last week (and good call by Alfert on noting they go well with seared tuna + salads) and it was quite nice, in a ‘racy’ kind of way.

Also agree that villages level can be quite good too. Cambion and Foillard (being repetitive) are good producers of that level, IMO.

If you can deal/tolerate Rimmerman, I have found his choices in the region to match my tastes, and pick up a few of this suggestions every year.

My preference is for lighter, more gluggable, less serious Bojo - have plenty of other wines than can age and are massive. These are ideal when a relative / friend pops in unexpectedly, and you weren’t planning on having a glass of wine at 2pm, but now that a friend is over, pull up a chair and pull out a cork.

Drank a 2017 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly last night. You would not know that wine was 3+ years old, it was rich, ripe, lush and very enjoyable.

Also tasted a 2017 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon which was much more complex and a nice food friendly wine.

I would buy both bottles again for sub-$30 any day of the week.

I like that Thivin very much but 2016 and 2014 are even better, less rich and the 2014 more classic in structure. The 2017 Thivin Cuvee Zaccharie (sp?) is insanely good. Really glad you dig those.