A thought on Beaujolais

C

Claude Kolm

Claude Kolm
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:

The boards are culpable [for the 2009 Beaujolais frenzy]. . . . If 2010 is another banner year, anyway, Beaujolais may go the way of Burgundy for the long-term.

I'm afraid that Bordeaux, not Burgundy may be the way they go. As attractive as many (certainly, not all) 2009 Beaujolais are, there is something atypical -- justifying the French term anne exceptionnelle. But there is a low acid, easy accessibility to them that reminds me of the way 1982 clarets tasted when they first arrived here. Appreciative as I am of the wines of 2009, as one who has been buying Beaujolais wines with passion for over 30 years (including the wines of Jules Chauvet), I hope 2009 remains an anne exceptionnelle and the producers don't consciously try to reproduce it; that is, I hope 2009 doesn't become just another anne de norme, leaving those of us who like the traditional acidity and minerality to abandon them (for the Cte Roannaise and Touraine, I guess).
 
The boards are culpable [for the 2009 Beaujolais frenzy]
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The boards may be culpable for the 2009 Beaujolais frenzy on the boards. But that's not really much of an argument is it.

There's a much bigger world beyond these urls.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Another small thought
The boards are culpable [for the 2009 Beaujolais frenzy]
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The boards may be culpable for the 2009 Beaujolais frenzy on the boards. But that's not really much of an argument is it.

There's a much bigger world beyond these urls.
Click to expand...
Whatever. I think that is irrelevant to the point I was trying to make.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
Woah. The lack of an 1855 classification should slow things down, one hopes.
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How so? If the producers get the idea that people want and will pay extra for the style of 2009, the producers will search for and find techniques to give that style every year, no matter want.
 
I don't know. It seems to me that the Beaujolais producers (at least the ones talked about on this board) aren't as commercial as the Bordelais. I don't know any of these producers personally, but I would imagine Alain Coudert, Jean Foillard, and many of the others have a little Bartolo Mascarello in them and won't try to change their wines to suit a fad.
 
originally posted by Yule Kim:
I don't know. It seems to me that the Beaujolais producers (at least the ones talked about on this board) aren't as commercial as the Bordelais. I don't know any of these producers personally, but I would imagine Alain Coudert, Jean Foillard, and many of the others have a little Bartolo Mascarello in them and won't try to change their wines to suit a fad.
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And what happens if producer X imitates the 2009 style and Coudert, Foillard, and others don't and producer X starts to command significantly higher prices than the others, even if his costs of tending the vines, harvesting, etc. are less?
 
I even found the Lapierre Cuvee IX a bit hot (I seem to recall - 14.5%!) for me. I plan to continue to enjoy the VII....Although, have to admit I liked the other wines from Lapierre in 09...and while the acidity was softer and ripeness more, the wines still seemed in balance and were enjoyable.

I see the point you are making Claude -- and I agree...I don't want Cru Beaujolais to become what we see in 2009...it's not my style preference....and I can understand the potential motivation for some to move in this direction...for financial or business benefit. Let's hope they overlook those motivations and continue to make wine true to the vineyard and vintage.

I still think 2009 in Beaujolais is a perfect vintage for 3L's of the stuff for parties. My mother loves Lapierre in 2009. :)

-mark
 
Yep, my mom took one sip of the L. Morgon '09 and said, "Mmmm, this is a happy wine." If I were to judge based on just a few glasses of the same btl, I'd say I prefer the '07, but I won't, till my '09's have rested a bit more and I can retaste. Pretty darn fruit-forward was my first thought.

As for concern regarding a repeat of '09's successes, one can only wait and see whether and how much demand picks up, but no small amount of integrity got many of these winemakers to this point. Some may be tempted, some not. Just hope global warming doesn't change their game...
 
I've tried one bottle of Lapierre IX and it was the worst bottle of wine this December. Maybe in a few months. All one could smell was alcohol. Between 3 drinkers, we left half a bottle untouched.
 
I think the 09s will be just as challenging as the 05s, and I'm not touching those yet. Levi, I can't speak to your bottle, but the couple I've tried were superb. The last was during the late summer.

I noticed the last Gaules I tried had taken a nasty turn - it wouldn't surprise me if the 09s are shutting down hard.

As many have been saying here, 07 is de rigueur for drinking now, along with the older vintages.
 
It'd be an interesting conversation to have with the vignerons themselves. While from what I've tasted so far of the 09's my preferences lie with a cooler year like '07, many quotes I've read from winemakers were extremely enthusiastic about the '09 vintage. I am sure some of that can be chalked up to marketing the current vintage. But, then I think I remember reading JP Brun talking about how it was the most perfect grapes he's ever had to work with. It makes you wonder whether they'd prefer to make this style of wine but simply don't often enough have the growing season to do so.
 
I think the key is that many of these vignerons are satisfied to work with what the vintage gives them and are happy with the end product so long as its balanced. That is, they don't have a preconceived result they are striving for and won't force their fruit to become a wine they aren't meant to be. Thus, if the vintage provides low-acid, fruit-forward grapes, the vignerons will make the wine correspondingly low-acid and fruit-forward. If the fruit is higher-acid and lower sugar, we get a high-acid, low alcohol wine. But perhaps I'm just a romantic...

I'm also assuming the enthusiasm for '09 had more to do with easy growing conditions (and thus less work to ensure healthy grapes than in average years) rather than a preference for fruit that will result in fruit-forward wines. But, then again, this is just conjecture.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:

I'm afraid that Bordeaux, not Burgundy may be the way they go. As attractive as many (certainly, not all) 2009 Beaujolais are, there is something atypical -- justifying the French term anne exceptionnelle. But there is a low acid, easy accessibility to them that reminds me of the way 1982 clarets tasted when they first arrived here. Appreciative as I am of the wines of 2009, as one who has been buying Beaujolais wines with passion for over 30 years (including the wines of Jules Chauvet), I hope 2009 remains an anne exceptionnelle and the producers don't consciously try to reproduce it; that is, I hope 2009 doesn't become just another anne de norme, leaving those of us who like the traditional acidity and minerality to abandon them (to the Cte Roannaise and Touraine, I guess).
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perfectly put. and spot on.

fb.
 
Bravo Claude.

Chauvet clearly had the same analysis about 1947 50 years ago. And he was right.
BTW the 2009 hype seems to be limited to North America. And a very few growers are exporting to these markets.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
I've have tried one bottle of Lapierre IX and it was the worst bottle of wine this December. Maybe in a few months. All one could smell was alcohol. Between 3 drinkers, we left half a bottle untouched.
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Agree. Really disappointing...and my first thought was...Oh shit. Second thought - is this what my 09s are going to be like? Say it aint so. I hope this cuvee was an anomaly.

Back to the 02s, 04s, and 07s for now.
 
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