A CLOSER LOOK TO BEAUJOLAIS

Beaujolais is an important wine region of eastern France, famous for its vibrant, fruity red wines made from Gamay. It is located immediately south of Burgundy, of which it is sometimes considered to be a part, despite being within the Rhone administrative region.

The Gamay grape used to produce these distinctive wines is an early ripening, acidic variety. For this reason, carbonic maceration has become the accepted method for making most red Beaujolais wines. Whole-bunch grapes are left in fermentation vessels, where the bottom layers are crushed under the weight of those on top. The resultant juice starts to ferment and saturates the upper grapes in carbon dioxide (a by-product of the fermentation process). This causes intra-cellular fermentation, where the grapes ferment as a whole berry, producing brightly colored wines with low tannin levels and intensely fruity flavors.

Being on the border of the Moulin-à-Vent cru, the core of Roilette’s Fleurie terroir is atypical of Fleurie, rich in clay and the mineral manganese instead of all granite; the wines are thus more structured than many Fleurie wines. This bottling comes from vines averaging 30 to 45 years old. They are farmed sustainably and the soils worked by hand, only twice a year and very carefully in order to not do damage to the older plants’ roots. The fruit is hand harvested and fermented in whole clusters with native yeasts in open-top, neutral vats with the cap kept submerged; the maceration for the Fleurie is approximately 14 days. Aging takes places in old foudres until bottling in the summer following harvest.

Stéphane Aviron has adopted an almost radical return to tradition in Beaujolais: sustainable viticulture, extremely old vines and classic Burgundian techniques. His cru Beaujolais drink like fine Burgundy.

Historically considered “poor man’s Burgundy,” a modern movement toward fruity, simple, quaffing wines boosted sales but eroded the region’s traditional quality. Stéphane Aviron has reversed the trend. By focusing on the Beaujolais village crus, the best sites for unique, expressive wines, and finding old parcels of vines, Aviron creates very expressive, age-worthy wines relying on traditional and new methods, including organic and biodynamic vineyard management. All wines are labeled “Vieilles Vignes,” old vines, because the vines are at least 40 years old. Stéphane Aviron’s wines are authentic in every way.

This Beaujolais-Villages consists of a blend of several granite terroirs—Gamay’s favorite kind of dirt—on the outskirts of the cru villages, mostly high in the hills where Gamay once failed to ripen consistently. With today’s climate, ripening is no longer a concern, even in these cooler sites. Consider Foillard’s Villages a lighter, brighter, higher-toned little sister to the domaine’s benchmark Morgons. Juicy and floral, it feels just right any old time of day, on its own or with food. Serve it cool—even cold, on a hot day—for maximum pleasure.

Le Clos des Billards is a one hectare monopole within the “les Billards” vineyard in Saint-Amour. This special reserve wine was created using only the best fruit from the lowest-yielding vines which range from 50-100 years old. It is vinified over 20 days using a weighted grill to keep the must cap submerged in the fermenting juice, thereby increasing the extraction of tannins and complexity; it is then aged in large foudres for 9 months before bottling, with additional aging in bottle prior to release. The result is an exceptional and age-worthy expression of the terroir of Saint-Amour, structured and elegant.