Bernard Jomain – 2018
Tasted in Charentay with Bernard Jomain, 11 February 2020. Domaine Bernard Jomain Lieu-dit La Valette 69220 Charentay Tel: +33 6 80 30 96 68 More reports for Domaine Bernard Jomain Bernard on 2019: “I lost a lot – let’s say 40% less… Read More
Profile: Bernard Jomain
Tasted in Charentay with Bernard Jomain, 12 February 2019. Domaine Bernard Jomain Lieu-dit La Valette 69220 Charentay Tel: +33 6 80 30 96 68 Bernard Jomain was a long-time metayeur of the Château de la Chaize and his father was also worker at Château Thivin – two… Read More
2023 Beaujolais Nouveau – steady as she goes!
So - how important is Beaujolais Nouveau today?
It may surprise you to learn that in 2022, nearly a quarter of all Beaujolais' 13,500 hectares of production, ended up in bottles that were labelled Nouveau.
That was 16,500,000 bottles of Nouveau - and that's a lot - it's equivalent to 85% of all the production of the Burgundy region from Chablis to the 'border' with Beaujolais!
France takes 60% of the bottles but the classic markets of Japan, the US and the UK, together, still bought more than 4 million bottles last year.
That being the case, it's still worth trying to find some good ones!
The 2023 vintage:
The vine-growth in 2023 started in the 'new classic' style - ie quite early and in good conditions due to a mild start to the year. This year, there was hardly any worry about frost and there followed practically ideal conditions for flowering. This early debut of growth, followed by the summer heat, ensured that it was another earlier harvesting year - from about the 1st September - so, versus 2021, we certainly had the potential for nearly an extra month of elevage before any Nouveau bottling got underway - but how, exactly, did the post-flowering year go?
In 2023, the Beaujolais vigneron(ne)s liked to talk about the weather; there's nothing unusual about 'farmers' talking about the weather, right? Of course not! But, as we approached the harvest, there was a clear focus to most of these conversations - and that focus was the rain - or rather the lack of rain.
The crus in the north got a couple of decent rainfalls in July/August but to the south not - here it stayed dry from mid-June right up to the harvest - in fact the further south you went in Beaujolais, the drier it got, reducing the berry size and therefore the yields - unsurprisingly, it was the young vines that particularly suffered in these conditions. The producers point to the counter-balance of the daytime heat with cooler nights - 'so the wines have a nice aromatic balance - not too warm!'
Proportionately, Beaujolais Nouveau is made in higher quantities from vines in the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais Villages as these labels are a little less attractive to Beaujolais buyers than those wines labelled in the name of 'the crus' - such as Fleurie or Saint Amour. So it is the wines from the south, whose volumes were most severely limited by the summer drought, who provide the bulk of the juice for these Nouveaux - it was an important point for this tasting.
The best wines...
In the the heartland of Beaujolais Nouveau production - ie the south of Beaujolais - the, drought-related, brake on the potential harvest volume has clearly been of benefit for anyone with an interest in drinking this stuff. That's because any excess volume usually translates into significant quality variation between those who cropped at the maximum and those who were more modest.
2023's more modest harvest volumes have brought some consistency to the wines - a little like in 2022. The Beaujolais Nouveaux are less regular than the Beaujolais Villages Nouveaux but as in most years the latter category come with not just more depth of flavour - they come with more structure too - and in many cases I'd be looking to keep, and drink, the villages over a longer period than the campaign for Nouveau might suggest.
I have noted a few more great wines (below) than in 2022 but overall, it's quite a similar number for 97 wines tasted this year.
97 wines tasted - is that a lot? There are probably more like 200-250 different bottlings and/or cuvée names in this category - and good luck to you if you can find some of them in your local markets. I really struggle in Switzerland - and the anonymous (single!) bottling of Switzerland's Coop supermarket is, historically, an awful one - but I'll try it again this year - hopefully without needing to pour (more than!) half of the bottle away!
Good hunting!
All 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:
5 Great wines for their labels
One more than last year:
Jean Loron, Beaujolais Nouveau Rosé
Agamy, Domaine de Solémy Beaujolais Nouveau
Manoir du Carra Famille Sambardier, Dame Nature Beaujolais Villages
Famille Descombe, Granite Beaujolais Villages
Richard Rottiers Beaujolais Villages
10 Excellent Wines - Beaujolais Nouveau
Two less than in 2022:
Jean Loron, Rift 69
Romy, Le Mouflet
Georges Duboeuf
Jean-Yves Sonnery Domaine de Baluce
Domaine des Prévelières
Domaine Pierre André Dumas
Aurélie et Fabien Romany
Domaine des Prévelières, Border'Wine
Baptiste Aufranc
Célia et David Large, Zombi
9 Excellent Wines - Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
Just one more than in 2022:
Domaine Gaget, Vinum Memoria
Georges Duboeuf
Domaine de la Madone Bérerd Père et Fils
Nicolas Boudeau
Domaine des Terres Vivantes, La Lutine
Cave Vignerons de Bel Air, Natural
Château de Corcelles
Domaine Desprès
Julien Aucagne
Click on 'Read More...' below to see the full notes for the (almost) 100 wines in the order that they were (blind) tasted on Halloween 2023:
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2019 Beaujolais Nouveau
160 wines blind-tasted in Beaujolais, 05 November 2019.
Of course, 2019 was another in the series, the trilogy, of warm years - but one with instances of frost. More drastic than the frost was a late-arriving hailstorm that on the 20th of August swept through the south of Beaujolais, cutting yields - in some cases drastically. The average losses were minus 30% - but it was Beaujolais-Villages where the most was lost, hence, the volume of ‘Nouveau de Garde’ has been significantly reduced this year.
I've previously laughed out load about the concept of Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau - Nouveau that you can cellar - so I will not bore you about that, not this time!
This year I embarked on a 160 wine gamayathon; I was certainly tired at the end, fortunately not emotional though! This year we even had 8 Nouveau of a different colour - rosé... That's up from the 3 from last year that I didn't taste(!) At this rate of growth we will have 20 in 2020!
What to expect and what's really worth buying
So three quite hot years, generally that's beneficial to the quality, but with three different results:
2017 - low yielding and probably because of that a really high quality in both the Nouveau and the Villages Nouveau
2018 - less low yielding, and that was the crux. Basic Nouveau was much more variable but the Villages Nouveau was more consistent
2019 - because of frost and hail, yields were cut, and for the consumer that has once more brought consistency and quality to the basic Nouveau category due to lower yields. I think only twice did I instantly say 'No!' and run from a particular wine. As for the Villages Nouveau - here was overwhelmingly more concentration and particularly intensity - the intensity of acidity - probably okay if you wish to cellar your Nouveau for 6-12 months, but I was looking for the balance for drinking now, and from this tasting that was relatively rare. As for the rosé wines - super, all of them - really a great source of easy, delicious drinking for the next weeks - or even longer - why not? Read More
Brouilly & Côte de Brouilly – 2017 (2016, 2015…)
Tasted in the offices of InterBeaujolais in Villefranche, 19 and 20 July 2018. What was already apparent last November when tasting 142 2017 Nouveaus, was confirmed by this early tasting of 2017s from Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly: Clearly 2017 is a ripe and concentrated vintage in… Read More
2022 Beaujolais Nouveau – as good as it gets!
The 2022 vintage:The 2021-2022 winter was long and, compared to most of the recent years, relatively cold. Frosts were commonplace until the beginning of April so probably because of that, budburst - in the second half of April - was relatively late. At this time, the domaines were already noting a lack of rain in the vineyards.
May was a warm and dry one: 50% less rainfall than normal plus more sunshine than usual - it was the warmest May on record since 1959.
The vines grew quickly and flowering took place in ideal, if early, conditions. Despite the dryness of May, there was sufficient rain in June to avoid issues with the vines even if the quantity of rainfall remained much below the average. It was in July that (not just!) the Beaujolais saw successive waves of hot weather - again lacking rain - it was the driest July for 33 years with 8mm of rain instead of an average of 68mm! This meant that the sanitary conditions of the vines couldn't have been better.
The harvest was very early - from the middle of August! The hot weather had reduced the amount of malic acid in the grapes but concentrated the amount of tartaric acid. Despite a little more rain in the area of Beaujolais Villages, the wines were concentrated and volumes were modest, so unlike in 2020, it was rarely possible for domaines to 'take advantage' of the volumes on offer - so there is a consistency in the concentration and ripeness in these 2022s.
Many thanks to the team at Château du Moulin à Vent for some of their vintage insight.
The best wines:
I just hope that you have some chance to find such domaine wines. Last year my local (Swiss) coop had only one, which was bottled just for them - no producer info - and that was probably just as well because it was rubbish!
Whilst there were few 'great wines' in the equivalent tasting of 2021s, last year, those that were, clearly stood out from the crowd. In 2022 it was more difficult because the average quality was very consistent and as high as I have seen it - in this respect it reminds me very much of the 2019 vintage. From 100 wines there was one that was corked - the second bottle was fine - and only one wine where I directly said 'NO!' - I wouldn't put this one in my mouth a second time!
Any complaints?
Actually, yes! Why so many heavy, statement, bottles? - 'Prestigious cuvées?' This is Beaujolais Nouveau for God's sake. WTF!?
4 Great wines:
Dominique Piron: Beaujolais AND Beaujolais Villages
Domaine de Colette, Natur’Elle de Colette, Villages
Domaine des Nugues Villages
12 Excellent Wines - Beaujolais:
Jean Yves Sonnery
Anthony Charvet, Beaujo Beau
JM Aujoux, La vie est belle
Frédéric Berne
Domaine Perthuizet, Gégé
Trenel
Château de L’Eclair
Domaine des Prévellières
Julien Bertrand
Brossette Paul André et Fils
Agamy, Domaine du Solémy
8 Excellent Wines - Beaujolais Villages:
Château de Vaux De Vermont Yannick
Vignobles Jambon, Pure
Domaine Péchard Tano
David Berougon
Jean-Paul Dubost, Beaujolais Lantignié
Domaine du Clos du Fief
Château de Pougelon
Jean Yves Sonnery, Cuvée Elégance
Click on 'Read More...' below to see the full notes for 100 wines in the order that they were (blind) tasted:
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2020 Beaujolais Nouveau
Or primeurs as the French, so often, refer to them. 162 wines, tasted blind in deepest Beaujolais, 04 November 2020:
2020 is the next in a series of warm vintages in the Beaujolais; it was frost-free in the Springtime and there was practically no hail in the Summer either. If there was to be one problem it was the dryness - some areas were described by locals as 'being on the limit.'
Yet when it came to the harvest they had good, clean, grapes - even those with quite high degrees of potential alcohol. The final figures are not yet available for the yields in 2020 but the current expectation is for volumes that are below the average due to the aforementioned dryness. If that turns out to be the case, I won't be at all surprised.
2020 and the most recent vintages:
I've done this tasting since the 2017 vintage, and whilst the recent quality from Grower Nouveau is on a much, higher level than I can ever recollect - and with much more consistency too - it seems to me that yields go a long way to defining what you will find in a bottle of Nouveau.
I'm certain that it's not particularly from the perspective of absolute quality that yields show themselves but rather from the perspective of the consistency of the observed quality where they play their role. Some people will always go to the maximum allowed - 65 hl/ha - whilst others are quite happy with 45 - or less:
Vintage 2017 - a warm, clean, early vintage – one hailstorm excepted – but low yielding. The best wines were excellent and the quality was consistent
Vintage 2018 - a warm clean and again an early vintage but with many higher-yielding places where the producers allowed. I observed significant quality differences in the samples - I largely attributed this to big swings in yields.
Vintage 2019 - another warm vintage with harvesting a little later but because of both frost and hail, yields were cut. The best wines were of high quality and the consistency was intermediate to 2017 and 2018.
Vintage 2020 - a warm clean vintage with consistently below-average yields. The best wines, once again, show high quality and a consistency that's at least as good as seen in the 2017s. The wines are relatively powerful and well constructed, the 'villages' wines generally need a little patience but are consistently excellent! NB Given the early harvest in 2020, these wines have seen nearly an extra month of ageing - that's 33% more! - than would be the case for a, more traditional, late-September harvest. In 2020 you can almost blind-buy Beaujolais-Villages-Nouveau as they are overwhelmingly excellent, less-so Beaujolais Nouveau but still with some confidence. Of course, if you don't want to gamble, try the list further below.
And the market?
Of course, it’s a nightmare time to have an en-primeur campaign in 'mid-lockdown' but judging by the number of trucks on French roads, logistics still seem to be effective. It's (still) a very important slice of the region's sales for these primeurs - Japan representing the largest export market after the US, Canada, Switzerland and then the UK. About 46% of the production was exported from France in 2019, when Nouveau accounted for nearly 30% of all the sales from Beaujolais - about 21 million bottles - and that now includes 2 million bottles of rosé too!
So how are the wines? One week before the big day, here is my list of 21 goto wines from 162 tasted 04 November 2020:
2020 Beaujolais Nouveau:
2020 Fellot Emmanuel, Vieilles-Vignes
2020 Château de L’Eclair
2020 Coquard Christophe
2020 Famille Chasselay, La Marduette
2020 Jean Loron, Tradition Vieilles Vignes
2020 Domaine Girin
2020 Trenel
2020 Chandesais, Petit Marcel
2020 Domaine Perroud Robert, Vieilles-Vignes
2020 Les Vins Aujoux
2020 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau:
2020 Domaine Nesme Mickael
2020 Famille Chevrier
2020 Colonge André et Fils, N°1 Gasby Gamay
2020 Fessy Henry, Tradition
2020 Domaine Lagneau
2020 Domaine des Fournelles - Dumontet Guillaume
2020 Lacondemine Jérôme, Coeur de Raisin
2020 Domaine Monternot Les Jumeaux
2020 Dubost Jean Paul, Beaujolais Lantignié
2020 Cave du Château des Loges, Les Trois Madones
2020 Boudeau Nicolas
Click below to see the full notes for all 162 wines:
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23-August-20 – burgundy harvesting day 4
2020 Savigny 1er Hautes Jarrons I’m a little late posting today – there was some football. Given the result, I suppose that I’d better not speak German in winery tomorrow… On the positive side of things, according to the team of pickers, the vineyards were much less… Read More
2017 Beaujolais Nouveau
Tasted courtesy of Interbeaujolais in Villefranche, 02 November 2017
Thursday is 2017 Beaujolais Nouveau day - here are 142 wines blind-tasted for you...
For almost as long as I can remember, I always find myself a glass to drink on that day - but one is typically enough!
Whatever you might think about the waning importance of Beaujolais Nouveau, in 2016, 25.2 million bottles of the stuff were sold. Outside of France, the largest markets are Japan, followed by the United States and Canada.
But despite the contraction in sales over (at least) the last 10 years, the region still hasn't given up on this label. In an effort to improve the image of their wines, the producers have reduced their focus on crazy races to deliver bottles of dubious quality to restaurants of dubious quality, rather deciding to make the wines better - who would have thought of that? But on the other hand they have, at the same time, made your choice more complicated - today there isn't just one Beaujolais Nouveau, there are two - there is also the higher classification of Beaujolais Villages Nouveau!
Just so that you don't have to (but feel free!), I tasted through 142 Nouveaux on the 2nd of November - 77 Beaujolais Nouveau (BJN) and 65 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau (BJVN). From the large first group of BJN, I picked out for you 9 absolutely delicious wines, and from the BJVNs I picked out 15 - but that was harder work, and here there is an additional complication: By and large the BJVN are more concentrated, more tannic and generally not for drinking on Thursday - you should probably wait at least 12 months for most of them to start drinking well! This rather begs the question, what are they for then? Discussing a with a fellow taster - writing for Bettane & Desseauve - it seems that this question, whilst entirely reasonable to me, is a very Anglo-Saxon question!
The French, it seems, don't just drink BJN (or BJVN!) on the third Thursday in November. They visit a shop, select a BJN (or BJVN!), they buy a case, they drink one or two bottles on the third Thursday of November and then drink the rest over the next 12 months - until it's time to start all over again. It seems, that in French eyes (at least) that drinking this wine on only one day per year, is particularly Anglo-Saxon - so whilst we might struggle with the concept (or utility) of a BJN (or BJVN!) de garde - that's just our problem!
2017 with its warm and friendly vintage conditions - one hailstorm excepted - has provided wine of delicious ripeness and good character. The quality is generally high with many more 'hits' than 'misses' - nearly 20% I recommend highly, but 10% of the wines I wouldn't want to take a second glass...
Anyway, all the following wines were tasted blind, I later mated the list of names my numbered tasting-notes, picking out those that I could highly recommend. The highly recommended wines follow directly. My favourite wine of the whole tasting being the wine (the BJVN wine!) of Maison Trenel - highlighted in that list.
9 selected Beaujolais Nouveaux, from 77 wines tasted:
Château de L'Eclair, L 16401
Nose is super. Bright fresh delicious – this is really excellent - can it be so easy?!
Duboeuf Georges
Big, bright delicious nose. Lots of flavour, a little gas, but very tasty – yes! A great finish too.
Mommessin
Deep, mineral, dark fruit – nice. Again gas. Layers of flavour – great flavour here. Super!
Paris Christophe
This is a deep and attractive nose. Supple, nice texture, great finishing flavour too!
Perroud Robert, Nature
A heavy bottle. Very deep. Direct, linear, only slowly giving up its melting flavours. Superior wine here with a fine finish – yes!
Fellot Emmanuel, Vieilles Vignes
A concentrated nose of depth. Supple, great weight but fresh too. Mouth-watering flavour – more tannin than the last. A great finish – Yes!
Château de la Valette - Crespin Jean Pierre
Depth but slightly tight nose. Fresh, lovely mid-palate energy – hmm – not many like this. Yes!
Oedoria, Coeur D'Automne
Hmm – nice – open, complex and attractive nose. Lots of distinction in the flavour here – complex and delicious.
Olivier Coquard, Nature
Tight nose. Open and attractive, complex, fresh palate. Lots to find here – this is super!
15 selected Beaujolais Villages Nouveaux, from 66 wines tasted:
Collin Bourisset, Cuvée à la Con
Modest depth but an attractive width of dark and fresh fruit. Good volume, layered fresh fruit. Late arriving sucrosity and fine intensity. A lovely finish. Excellent!
de Vermont Yannick
Deep, complex, fresh – interesting! Volume, complexity - ooh – this is good! Excellent!
Gelin Gilles, Le Vin des Copains
A tight-ish but highly attractive nose of pure dark fruit. Lots of structure and some astringence of tannin. This is a wine to wait at least a year for but it is simply super wine.
Domaine Joncy, La Trad'Nature
Red wax topped. Wide and quite floral with an easy fruit I the middle. On the plate the texture is very silky, the flavours are quite individual but very floral and enticing. Delicious despite the young impression. Super!
Tête Louis
Nice, quite open and with good depth. In the mouth, plenty of dimension and complexity – this is very fine and a little saline too.
Domaine de la Milleranche - Corsin J et Roussot S, Anima Vinum
An inky-deep nose. Wide, fresh some decent intensity here. Layers of finishing flavour – very young finishing flavour! To wait for but with super material and more than a touch of finishing tannin
Lacondemine Jérôme, Coeur de raisin
Ooh – deep, floral – very lovely! Fresh, faintly mineral, lots of complexity. Great but painfully young wine. Superb
Jambon Dominique
A wide and fresh nose – highly attractive. Plenty of fresh volume. Slowly the waves of flavour wash over the palate. Really a great finish!
Lafont Jean Marc, Cuvée Centenaire
Also inky-deep but something very attractive and high-toned escapes the glass too. Supple, über-concentrated, layered flavour. Wait 3-5 years – no joke. Super wine!
Dumas Pierre André, Cuvée vinifiée par Aurélie Durnerin
Deep colour. Super concentrated nose with some modest high-tones escaping – attractive. Too much gas but so much energy and complexity. Super wine, delicious wine…
Trenel
Ooh a very lovely floral top note here – quite distinctive. Fresh, vigorous and delicious. There is depth and great interest for me here – this could be the best wine of the day…
Ferraud P et Fils
A tighter nose but of some saline interest. Really a lot of volume here, but the mouth-watering flavour cuts through the young tannin. Fine fresh fruit – excellent!
Château de la Grand'Grange, Vieilles Vignes
Nice fresh fruit on this nose – dark fruit – lovely. Supple, concentrated, layered flavour. Long. Super wine – nearly as good as #53…
Domaine de Colette - Gauthier Jacky
Plenty of volume and fresh aromatic complexity. Big, depth of flavour. Nice texture. Waves of fine finishing flavour. Another top wine…
Chatelus Pascal
Bottle 1 corked - the only one of the tasting. Here bottle 2. Deep nose that's tight above, more open below. Supple and concentrated. Layers of great flavour – this is excellent…
Click here to see all the remaining notes!