David Béroujon – 2021
Tasted with David Béroujon in Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais, 01 March 2023. Domaine David Béroujon 88 route du Tang 69460 Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais Tel: +33 6 86 76 04 96 More reports with David Béroujon David on 2021: “I had the hail here in 2021, because of that I didn’t sell much to the négociants… Read More
David Béroujon – 2019
Tasted with David Béroujon in Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais, 02 February 2021. Domaine David Béroujon 88 route du Tang 69460 Salles-Arbuissonnas-en-Beaujolais Tel: +33 6 86 76 04 96 I came to visit David because, just I was finalising my list of visits for this tour, David had won the ‘Best… Read More
David Duband – 2014
Tasted with David Duband in Chevannes 21 June 2016. SARL David Duband 12 Rue du Lavoir 21220 Chevannes www.domaine-duband.com David took over from his father in 1991, his father previously selling the produce to the cave-cooperative. David, with the help of business partner, Francois Feuillet,… 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:
Read More
2020 Beaujolais: Fine – but it’s the acid-balance that hides the alcohol
2020 Red Burgundy Part 1: 82 Côte d’Or domaines – December 2021 2020 Red Burgundy Part 2: 68 Beaujolais domaines – February 2022 (14 more in March 2022) The view from Poncié to Moulin à Vent, February 2022 As a generality, 2020 was… Read More
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
Chapel – 2022
Tasted with David & Michelle Chapel in Régnié, 03 April 2024 Domaine Chapel 98 Chemin des Hortensias La Haute Ronze 69430 Régnié-Durette Tel: +33 6 64 94 91 46 www.domainechapel.fr Producer Instagram More reports with Domaine Chapel On 2023: “We’ve bought three additional hectares here in Regnié in the last… Read More
des Croix – 2022
Tasted in Beaune with David Croix, 13 December 2022. Domaine des Croix 2 Rue Colbert 21200 Beaune Tel: +33 3 80 22 41 81 David’s Instagram More reports for Domaine des Croix David on 2022: 2022 for me is like a combination of 2017 with 2020 – the density of… Read More