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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2021 Beaujolais Nouveau – the ‘combative’ vintage
Or primeurs as the French, so often, refer to them. 100 wines, tasted blind in deepest Beaujolais, 02 November 2021:
- Inter Beaujolais - the marketing board for the Beaujolais region - describe the 2021 vintage as combative.
- 2021 was a complicated year in terms of both the weather conditions and the amount of work needed in the vines by the winegrowers. The second half of August and the month of September, however, made it possible to retain decent quality grapes, even if the quantity was reduced.
- Begun in mid-September, the harvest took place in rather cool conditions. This freshness, which characterised the end of the grapes' ripening period, is visible in the wines.
- The wines in 2021 have moderation in mind – at least compared to the other recent vintages – they are lower in both alcohol and weight of phenolics - their tannic structure. The wines have been quite fairly described by Inter Beaujolais as ‘tender and fruity.’
Overall, just over 100 samples were presented for this 2021 showing of Beaujolais Nouveau - which is a big drop from the number of samples (160+) proffered in recent vintages. Why? Simply, it was the 2021 harvest volumes; generally hit by frost at the start of the year and more locally in the south – where much Nouveau is produced – by some hail too. Whilst the official harvest volumes are not yet available, the harvest was generally down by about 25% - more in the south, less in the crus of the north - and that was the principal driver here.
I note that in this vintage the wines were showing much less ‘fruit-forward’ in style than their siblings in other recent vintages. I find a number of excellent wines but I have also noted many, many fewer ‘bravo’ wines than in other vintages - only 3 - but it would be remiss of me not to point out the very short timeline from harvest to my tasting glass this year – certainly much less elevage than was afforded to the earlier harvests of the previous 5-6 years.
2021 and the most recent vintages:
I've done this tasting since the 2017 vintage, and whilst the recent quality from Grower Nouveau has been on a much higher level than I can ever recollect - and with much more consistency too - 2021 is certainly a step back in terms of concentration, if not their acid-driven intensity - 2021 brings a lighter style which works much better with the Beaujolais Villages wines - 6-12 months of patience is not mandatory in this vintage. I have noted many fewer 'Bravo!' wines than in other tastings but there remain many excellent, quite delicious, wines:
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 - a vintage you can blind buy domaine wines!
Vintage 2021 - A vintage of frost, hail in places, and much lower yields - the cooler, wetter weather requiring more grape triage but this resulted in wines that are clean and attractive with good acidity - perhaps more elegantly proportioned than the most recent vintages with a stronger spine of acidity rather than tannin to support them.
Link to previous tastings. I like this tasting - not particularly for its length or nouveau specificity but rather because it's quite an accurate snapshot of how, in general, the next vintage will show when released in another 6-12 months...
And in the order tasted, my 'excellent wine' picks for this year?
Of course, all were tasted blind:
2021 Frederic Berne, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 Collin-Bourisset, Beaujolais Nouveau ‘à ta cuvée à la con’
2021 Vins Aujoux, Beaujolais Nouveau ‘Le Cochon Chic’
2021 Père Benoit, Beaujolais Nouveau ‘Tchin’
2021 Domaine de Solémy, Beaujolais Nouveau Vieilles-Vignes
2021 Jean Loron, Beaujolais Nouveau ‘Tradition Vielles-Vignes’
2021 Famille Girin, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 Domaine de Loyse - Cellier de St.Jean d’Ardières, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 Château de Pizay, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 Henry Fessy, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 P Ferraud et Fils, Beaujolais Nouveau
2021 Famille Chasselay, Beaujolais Nouveau ‘La Marduette’
2021 P Ferraud et Fils, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
2021 Vignobles Jambon, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Pure’
2021 Pierre Dupond, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Seconde Nature’
2021 Château de l’Eclair, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
2021 Château de Chatelard, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Vintage’
2021 Cave du Château des Loges, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Les Trois Madones, Sans Souffre’
2021 Domaine de la Madone, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Pérréoneissime’
2021 Domaine Burnichon, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau
2021 Besson Père et Fils, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Tu m’fais tourner la tête’
2021 Les Jeunes Pousses, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Préambule’
2021 Château de Lavernette, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Le Jeune’
And the medals for those lonely 'Bravo!' wines - the best of this tasting:
2021 Jean Loron, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘In Jules we Trust’
2021 Manoir de Carra Sambardier, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau Vieilles-Vignes
2021 Manoir de Carra Sambardier, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau ‘Dame Nature’
Here's hoping that you can actually find some of these!
Click below to see the full notes for over 100 wines:
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A Yorkshire lunch – in three acts…
A short hop to Leeds – so a Yorkshire lunch – even if one of us didn’t have the fortune of originating from that county 🙂 (My) Lunch was French onion soup, venison Wellington and nibbling from a selection of cheeses. I can’t remember the last time I saw this… Read More
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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Artisan Vignerons du Bourgogne du Sud – 2018 Mâconnais
It is always a pleasure to visit this group of producers for my usual ‘speed-dating’ tasting. I planned to visit in June, and then July, to taste 2017s – but in both cases, our mutual diaries came up short. Whilst that was a shame, it also opened up the opportunity… Read More
The 1998 Burgundy Vintage – 20 years on…
I have been so looking forward to tasting these 1998s. I cut my teeth of the wines of 1993-1995 and the 1996s were the first en-primeur wines that I bought. I tasted some 1996 and 1997s in Burgundy but only started to regularly taste from cask from the 2000 vintage… Read More
Artisan Vignerons du Bourgogne du Sud – 2016 Mâconnais
Vergisson, 24 July 2018… This tasting was a month or-so later than most years, but I still wasn’t going to pass up the chance to taste the creme de la creme of 2016’s Mâcons. Like the last couple of years, (practically) all the wines… Read More
weekend wines – week 31 2018
A lunch with, as you can see, like-minded friends… 2011 Comtes Lafon, Meursault Clos de la Barre It was very hard to place this wine when first poured – it had a certain sweetness – aromatically and in the flavour – but it kept getting better and better… 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!