“Beaujolais Nouveau is not really an appellation; it’s a moment that you pass and enjoy with friends…”
More tasting reports on Beaujolais Nouveau
The statistics are not yet official, but – like everywhere else – the Beaujolais region was hot and dry in 2026.
The resultant crop, versus the recent average production, was at least 35% lower.
For these primeurs, we should also note that given the very early harvest, the elevage is almost a month longer than traditional for a Nouveau.
With these Beaujolais Primeurs – or Nouveau to most people – we have a glimpse of what 2026 might bring in another 6-12 months.
Since the first vintage I did this tasting (2017?), this is the largest selection of wines that have been presented, but it still represents less than 20% of the producers who commercialise a ‘Nouveau’ – estimated to be about 700 domaines. Though many of those make only ‘micro’ cuvées of 1,000-2,000 bottles…
My* Beaujolais Nouveau Statistics Dashboard
*Helped by Claude(!!) who integrated all the stats available in my previous reports and assembled them with some new ones from the 2025 campaign, provided this year by InterBeaujolais.

You will have to click on the above to visualise the worrying trend seen lower down the page, but sales are down nearly 50% in 10 years… But I’m hwere top talk about wines not the sales of wines, so:
Good hunting!
All of the wines were tasted and selected blind. It was only after the tasting that I got a copy of the spreadsheet with the names to match to the numbered bottles:
Here are 30 wines that are worth your time:
Excellent Wines – Beaujolais Nouveau
From 73 examples, I found ten excellent wines – see below – but no ‘great’ wines. To be fair, this selection was quite variable, as you will see from the notes:
Famille Couzon, 1ère Cuvée
Julien Mathon, Toutencanon
Cave du Château de Chénas
Jean-Marc Aujoux
De Champ Fleury, Joyeux Beaujolais
Ruet, Les Trois Poulettes
Oedoria, Cuvée du Zèbre
Romuald Petit
Jean Loron, Vieilles Vignes
Mommessin
Excellent & Great Wines – Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
What a great step up in quality – both concentration, texture and drinkability – probably the best, most accessible ‘villages’ that I’ve tasted at launch: 17 from 75 were excellent, and three were great wines, but that small-ish number belies how many were very tasty and drinkable !!
Excellent:
Cave du Château des Loges, Les Trois Madones
De Rochemure
Manoir du Carra, Dame Nature
Château de Poncié, Gamaia
Lavernette de Boissieu, Le Jeune
Dominique Piron
Des Nugues
Béroujon, Sans Sulfite
De Thulon
Burnichon
Trenel
Tano Péchard
Georges Duboeuf
Le Fagolet – Famille Girard, Pur Jus de Granit
La Combe au Loup – Méziat
Du Penlois, Tu M’fais tourner la tête
Cave de Juliénas-Chaintré, Cœur Nature
Great:
De Colette, Natur’elle de Colette
Gaget, Vinum Memoria
André Colonge, Colonge Landry
Click on ‘Read More…’ below to see the full notes for the 153 wines in the order that they were (blind) tasted on Thursday 05th November 2026:

Read more…