After drinking through several beautiful and layered 06 and 07s, I’m making a point to grab a mixed case.
My recent discovery is Jean-Paul Thevenet’s 2007 Morgon VV - what have you been drinking and what producers can you not get enough of?
I’m a big fan of Cru Beaujolais, I like surprising people by serving them good ones with a few years of age. I’d have to check the cellar but Brun and Diochon come to mind. And what is that horse head one, Clos de Roillettes??
People expect vapid plonk from Beaujolais. The good stuff is a couple of notches away from red Burgundy, but often silkier. Truly interesting wine and at excellent prices. I wish there were more “good” producers out there…
Looking forward to see what others will mention. We don’t see a lot of Florida Jim Cowan on this board, he seems to be the world expert on this topic.
Peter,
I would very much like for us to organize a tasting around this theme soon!
Some favorites of mine include Diochon and Dominique Piron. The ones you seem to hear most about are the four of Breton, Foillard, Thevenet and LaPierre, but I have only had small sips of some of those at store tastings, so hardly enough to say anything about them. Brun and Clos de la Roilette are others I’ve tasted but not in enough detail to make any conclusions/recommendations.
Seriously, let’s taste a bunch of these…
-Michael
Absolutely!
I dig Thivin’s wines and Burgaud as well.
I’m with Frank, though I havent had too many aged examples, but I’ve found the 06 and 07 bottlings especially expressive and structured and would easily fool me into thinking they were, say, 1er cru burgs - at $15-30.
I’m a big fan of Lapierre, Foillard and Breton.
I recently enjoyed the Desvignes Morgon Javernieres 06 and thought it was terrific - certainly the equal of the ones listed above.
Another recent discovery was the Ducroux Regnie 07 - probably my favorite $15 bottle this year.
This is a great region to explore because it costs so little to play. I discovered burgs just as prices for village and mid-range 1ers rose beyond my budget. These cru Beaus have filled that void as my first choice for lighter, aromatic, juicy, food friendly reds.
I’m not an expert at all, but I adore good cru beaujolais and I’ve especially loved wines from the following producers:
Vissoux
Burgaud
Tete
Jadot
Coquelet
Thivin
Foillard
Lapierre
Descombes
Brun
In general I’ve found that if you seek out Lynch or Dressner beaujolais you’ll put yourself in good shape.
The following are my regular cru Beaujolais consumption:
Louis Jadot, Chateau des Jacques - Moulin-a-Vent: the basic one is very good but the 5 single vineyard wines are really good. My favourites are Clos de Rochegres and Clos du Grand Carquelin but the other 3 are good too particularly with some age.
Louis Jadot, Chateau des Lumières - Morgon
Marcel & Matthieu Lapierre – Morgon.
Pierre-Marie & Martine Chermette, Domaine du Vissoux – 2 Fleurie [Poncie in particular], Moulin-a-Vent
Jean-Marc Burgaud – Morgon
Jean Foillard - Morgon
Clos de la Roilette [Alain Coudert] - Fleurie
Jean-Paul Thevenet - Morgon
Jean-Paul Brun, Domaine des Terres Dorées - various appellations
There are others like Olivier Merlin and Potel-Aviron [sometimes too austere] that I have enjoyed but the above are regular purchases and I cellar and age the wines of the first 5 producers - the Jadot wines in particular. These have been consistently reliable.
Unfortunately they have become much more expensive although that is partly a function of individuality and the way they are made which is different to many Beaujolais producers including ‘the Gang of 5’ followers of Jules Chauvet i.e. semi-carbonic rather than the Burgundian method used by Jadot and, increasingly, by some others.
Also drinking the 2005 Lapierre Morgon [the middle of the 3 versions offered - none are made with SO2 added and only one is filtered. I buy the sulphured-at-bottling unfiltered version which have so far been outstanding. I intend to keep some of this case [earlier vintages have been consumed quickly] to see whether they can age without significant bottle variation. Great stuff, clear, pure and very tasty.
The Domaine du Vissoux Fleurie Poncie is usually delicious as are their other wines and Jean-Marc Burgaud’s Morgons have real depth of flavour. The 2005 is another current favourite.
I really like Desvignes. Also good are Brun and Thivin.
Jadot/Chateau des Jacques
Descombes
Desvignes
Pavillon de Chavannes
Tete/Clos de Fief
I like the '07 Pascal Granger Julienas.
Jean-Paul Brun
I am in the process of putting together my annual Beaujolais report and have had recent releases of several of the recommended producers on this list. Disappointing to me is I have not had a few of those recommended and will have to search them out as well. I would add to the top producers already listed:
Nicole Chanrion in Cote-de-Brouilly (Kermit Lynch)- A go to producer for me year in and year out- more succulent and juicy out of the blocks than the well-known Chateau Thivin bottlings- but perhaps almost as ageworthy (have a stash or 2005 in the cellar to see how long it will go while I shamelessly plow through my 2006s and 2007s);
Domaine des Billards- St. Amour (David Bowler)- New producer to me and the 2007 was off the charts- had no idea St. Amour could have this kind of depth and Morgon-like structure. This shows all indications of aging well for ten to twenty years- but I will have to buy enough to find out, as this is just singing right now.
Chateau Thivin- Their Cote-de-Brouilly is rightly famous for its longevity and profundity at maturity, but can be a bit of a structured customer out of the blocks in vintages such as 2005 or 2006, and their straight Brouilly (which Kermit has just begun to sell in NY- those on the west coast I am sure could lobby for this wine to be available out of Berkeley as well) is also stellar, with great soil inflection, purity of red fruit and no structural elements that demand deferring gratification;
With the Jadot crus already mentioned, the one thing to keep in mind that they are all raised in one-third new oak, and consequently, at least to my palate need a few years of bottle age to really blossom (the '06s are just starting to really come into their own), but they age brilliantly and are well worth the wait;
Joseph Drouhin- Simply great, structured and very soil-driven Cru Beajolais from this firm- completely under the radar from what I can see- and great examples. Across the board these are terrific crus, with Moulin-a-Vent, Morgon, St. Amour and Fleurie the stars of the '07s- but all were excellent. They buy from a long-time group of top growers scattered through the various villages and these wines are a steal- the stunning 2007 Morgon is found on Wine-Searcher for as low as $14.99! Tastes like the good old days!
Best,
John
I don’t know how I managed to forget Desvignes. A favorite of mine too.
I can’t add any of the top of my head to what we have here. I’m struck at how many terrific producers of cru Beaujolais there are fairly available in the US, almost all for lest that $25 if not sub $20. Cru Beaujolais to me isn’t “good for the money” wine either. It’s fragrant, delicious wine that is about the best thing for roast chicken that I can imagine, along with some pinot noir. It’s also more ageworthy than people tend to give it credit for, not just lasting but changing and improving for five or ten years. I wouldn’t plan on putting it away much longer than that, though I’m sure there are exceptions. Still, this is a serious wine region with lots of interesting producers to explore. I seemed to get in a little trouble asking elsewhere if Oregon pinot noir needs to be high priced to get attention. People seemed to interpret that idea/question as if I were thinking I need to price my wine high to get attention. Rather, I was thinking of wine like cru Beaujolais. It’s almost like it doesn’t cost enough to get on the mass radar. Maybe that’s arguable, but it seems that way to me. Along with good dry rose, cru Beaujolais might be the perfect Thanksgiving wine.
Vissoux.
Lots of others, too, but Vissoux first.
Best, Jim
Lapierre above all others, but increasingly, I’m loving Foillard as well. There are lots of others I enjoy, but those are my go-to producers.
Nice thread, lots of great producers named. I really enjoyed an 05 Desvignes Morgon over last couple nights.
I’d just add that for all of the deliciousness of Cru Beaujolais, one shouldn’t ignore the broader regional appellations. Sure, most is crap, but most of everything is crap. But Beaujolais AC can be very satisfying. The Terres Dorees (Brun) L’Ancien and the Vissoux/Chermette Traditionnelle are year in year out outstanding values.