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:   Read More

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