Ten to Cru By

The Beaujolais region is a small region in east central France that sits just south of Burgundy. (It’s actually part of Burgundy, but not in any way that’s important to us right now.) In 1395, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, either thought ill of the Gamay grape or feared that it was impinging on interest in Pinot Noir (which he owned vineyards of), so Philip the Autocrat banned the grape from the Duchy. What is now Beaujolais was just out of his dukesty’s reach. To this day, Gamay is the red grape of Beaujolais.

Like many French wine regions, Beaujolais ranks its vineyard sites. Official Beaujolais wines come from specific sites. More prized sites can produce Beaujolais-Villages wines. The highest ranked sites are granted Cru status.

There are ten Beaujolais Crus …

• Moulin-à-Vent

• Morgon

• Fleurie

• Juliénas

• Côte de Brouilly

• Brouilly

• St. Amour

• Chiroubles

• Régnié

• Chénas

This Wednesday, we hold our annual Beaujolais Cru Tasting, where we taste wines from each of the ten Beaujolais Crus. ‘Tis a Tenfold Gamut of Gamay!

Please join us for this epic, free walk-up tasting. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait until next year!