Beaujolais: If You Want Value (You’ve Got It)

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | OCTOBER 17, 2019

The string of very good to outstanding vintages for Beaujolais continues apace. There has never been a better time to explore this region’s delicious, approachable wines, especially considering the seemingly endless, often steep, price hikes for most wines from other historically pedigreed regions across the globe. Admittedly, prices have been steadily going up since the watershed 2009 vintage, whose across-the-board quality and fruit-driven, crossover appeal launched a new generation of Beaujolais aficionados. Prices now often cruise well past $30 and into the $40+ range for the most sought-after and limited-production bottlings from the region’s most famous producers. That’s also the case with wines from a number of mostly young, tiny and artisanal newcomers to Beaujolais. But taking that relative handful of wines and producers out of the equation, there are still a staggering number of outstanding, truly world-class Beaujolais that come in under $25 a bottle and often far less than that.

Young Gamay plantings in the southern sector of the rolling Beaujolais hills

The Extremely Pleasant 2018s Check the Right Boxes

Beaujolais farmers and producers were thrilled by the higher than historically normal yields realized in 2018, especially following 2017 and 2016, when brutal hailstorms wreaked widespread havoc on some of the region’s most esteemed terroirs. This is a vintage that’s shaping up to be, generally speaking, a collection of ripe wines but not so ripe as to scare off the purists. They are, as a group, definitely in the fruit-forward, seamless, juicy and low-tannin camp, showing very good concentration as well as energy and, surprisingly, sharp delineation. I’m betting the 2018s will provide abundant appeal to the masses while also striking the fancy of those who prize or even demand the freshness and energy of classic Beaujolais. Low tannin levels and buoyant, juicy fruit make the wines that I’ve seen almost immediately pleasurable, which is a huge positive for restaurants and for consumers who don’t the storage space for cellaring or simply the taste preference to let these wines age. Overall acidity levels are on the relatively low side, but for now, that doesn’t show. On the contrary, I was struck by the freshness of many of the wines, which reminded me far more of 2016 and especially 2017. Broadly speaking, the 2018s exhibit the depth and power of 2015 but not the same structure and dark fruit character. They are usually a bit richer than the 2016s, but fresher and built along a more classic, elegant line, by a good stretch, than the 2017s.