I just finished reading Neal Martin’s latest article on the '20/'21/'22 vintages in Beaujolais, which touched on some of the themes also visited in William Kelley’s article last summer regarding how wines are priced and the relationship between the region and its more prestigious neighbors.
Of note toward the end of Neal’s article is a mention that Fleurie is applying for Premier Cru status:
Seven Premier Crus will be proposed to the INAO this spring: Les Moriers, Poncié, Les Garants, La Madone, La Roilette, Grille Midi and La Chapelle des Bois, which together represent 27% of the appellation.
What does the Berserker gallery think about the movement to establish more premium offerings (price and cuvee-wise) and to seek inherent esteem via the Premier Cru label? The process may take 8-10 years, according to another recent article from Decanter, but are we about to see a big price push, and will some of our favorites become even harder to grab?
feels to me like they’ve earned it. cru beaujolais has come a long way qualitatively and the best wines can certainly show site specificity and age nicely
Agreed, based on my limited experience. Nobody wants to see their tried and true $20 to (now) $50 Cru Beaujolais explode to the $100+ level most 1er-level Cote-d’Or pinot’s fetch, but you can’t hide quality and extreme value forever, I guess.
To the point made by WK in his article, the economics of “affordable” and quality Cru Beaujolais are also unsustainable. I can’t tell if an increased focus on premium plots will diminish in any way the quality of some of the excellent generic Cru or not, but it will be quite interesting to see what happens and if the region keeps its distinct spirit alive.
in the same way that demand and changing climate have stretched the borders of viable burgundy, i wouldn’t be surprised if the same is true for gamay. the cote roannaise and cote lyonnais wines are already pretty decent. you can find some in the auvergne and here and there throughout the loire as well, so focus on those plantings might intensify if the demand keeps growing.
For me, this 100%. Been drinking Beaujolais for decades, and I literally have no clue where any of the ones that I adore sit on any ranking list. Heck, I didn’t even know Neil Martin paid attention to Beaujolais, or maybe it’s that I don’t pay attention to him. Candidly I feel this way about Bordeaux as well especially the gerrymandering of the St Emilion ranking which changes with such regularity, essentially renders it meaningless for another reason.
Giving Beaujolais sites premier cru status won’t be good for consumers like us who already know about the best producers and sites, but it will probably help expand the market for cru Beaujolais to people who don’t know much about cru Beaujolais, especially for consumers who care about labels and other signifiers of status when they make wine purchases.
Now whether there are enough consumers of means and interests to sustain a market for $100+ bottles of Morgon Cote du Py or Fleurie La Roilette is another question. Though I’m guessing Metras is already there.
Is the belief that someone who no longer gets their allocation of a Premier Cru Burgundy whether pinot or chardonnay, going to be just as satisfied with Premier Cru Gamay, just because it has ‘Premier Cru’ on the label? That seems kind of nuts to me.
I listened to a podcast on this a day or so ago, and even within the Fleurie AOC, where this seems to be gathering steam, some growers question this logic.
I think it’s a very French preoccupation. The French market of “ordinary” wine drinkers remains much more appellation-oriented than Anglophone markets, which are more (and increasingly) producer-oriented, and French producers often share this point of view. Witness the farrago of the Saint-Émilion classification: how many consumers even knew that Cheval Blanc was Premier Grand Cru Classé A? The part of the label that concerned them was the bit that said “Cheval Blanc”. When they talk about new premiers crus in Burgundy, I always point to Montagny, which has many premiers crus and is one of the cheapest AOCs in the region.