Beaujolais “must do more” for different crus

Beaujolais can look forward to another solid couple of years as the 2010 and 2011 vintages emerge but more needs to be done to promote different crus, according to Henry Fessy’s director Laurent Chevalier.

Chevalier is of the opinion that, while the last two vintages for the region have been excellent, if very different, Beaujolais’ revival also requires the trade to promote different crus.

Chevalier said that, unfortunately, only a couple of names seemed to hold any place on restaurant lists – notably Fleurie and Saint Amour – and that “Juliénas and Chénas are virtually unknown”.

On a more positive note, Richard Nunn, director of Henry Fessy’s agents Louis Latour Agencies, said that Beaujolais seemed to have “captured the mood of the brasserie, more relaxed style of eating” that is current at the moment and that Louis Latour Agencies was “doing very well with Beaujolais”.

Nunn also said that in the off-trade the situation was slightly different with crus such as Morgon and Moulin à Vent appearing more frequently.

Chevalier meanwhile praised the 2010 vintage which he described as a “much more typical year for Beaujolais”, after the ripeness of 2009, with more acidity.

He also thought it was a better year to taste the differences between the crus as “2009 was sometimes a little too ripe and perhaps some of the sites’ identities were lost.”

By contrast, 2011 was somewhere between the two with greater ripeness than 2010 but not as all powerful as 2009.

He joked that the best description for 2011 was as if one “took some wine from 2009 and some from 2010 and blended them together.”