Beaujolais Nouveau is more than simply fruity

Nov 21 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

THE 2008 Beaujolais Nouveau was released yesterday – but very few bottles arrived here. Demand has fallen steadily since its peak popularity in 1992. It used to appeal because it seemed so deliciously fruity. Lots of wine is like that now, but it wasn’t a generation ago. And in the simple, fruity appeal stakes, Beaujolais has been left behind.

No one should pretend that Beaujolais is anything but a simple, everyday wine, to be drunk and enjoyed without much comment. The late, great John Arlott, who loved it, used to say, perhaps only slightly with tongue in cheek, that it was the only wine that was truly thirst quenching. He probably stole the idea from the folk of Lyon who would have us believe that three great rivers flow into their town – the Rhône the Saône and the Beaujolais.

Not quite all of it flows into Lyon. Although Nouveau no longer makes waves, UK imports of Beaujolais rose last year by 18%. In particular, there’s more demand for the very best wines from the 10 northern villages, or ‘crus’, that are allowed to bottle their wine under their own name. I suspect that most people who’ve recently, for example, discovered Fleurie or Morgon for the first time have any idea that they are Beaujolais; which is fair enough, for they have little in common with the light, nervy Nouveau made mostly in the south of the region, where the soils and even method of production can be quite different.

The common element is a grape variety – Gamay – which, unfortunately, doesn’t taste especially fruity and which, despite being fairly deep coloured (as long as it’s fully ripe) is notably low in tannin and high in acidity. These characteristics are emphasised by the traditional Beaujolais way of turning it into wine, in which whole bunches of grapes are tipped, uncrushed, into vats to ferment.

Because harvesting machines shake individual berries from the vine, the only way to pick bunches intact is by hand. This year, it’s estimated that even with the smallest Beaujolais harvest in a generation, around 50,000 grape pickers were needed to do the job, which began on September 15. The grapes at the bottom of the vat are gently crushed by the weight of those above and begin to ferment and as the sugar begins to turn into alcohol, carbon dioxide is given off, which, because it is heavier than air, remains trapped at the bottom of the vat. Surrounded by the gas, the other berries begin to ferment from inside out and then to split gently. The effect is a very light, fruity wine, with even less tannin than if the grapes had been crushed before fermentation began.

But in the north, some growers eschew the local tradition, crush their grapes before fermentation and then age it in small oak barrels. Although wine from the 10 crus may be sold from the December 15 following the vintage, many are not released until much later, and unlike the light, nouveau-style wines, have enough tannin and concent- ration to develop more character after two or three more years’ maturation in the bottle. I’ve drunk wines from the three gutsiest crus – Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon and Chénas – that had bags of life in them when 10 or more years old. They were anything but light quaffing wines. They begged to be sipped slowly with fine food and were as intriguingly complex as a fine red Burgundy, which, oddly enough, they begin to resemble as they mature.

Not all the wine from the crus is like this. Because they have relatively little tannin, lighter examples, like Chiroubles, St Amour, Brouilly or the often wonderfully scented Fleurie (it smells like it sounds) can be good drunk, like humbler Beaujolais, slightly chilled. The same applies to Beaujolais-Villages, which comes from 38 villages just to the south of the crus and can be great value.

I’ve no idea how good 2008 Beaujolais will be. The official reports say that this has been a ‘winemaker’s year’, which means, reading between the lines, that it has been quite a challenge to turn out good stuff.

If you want to try Nouveau that’s as good as it’s likely to get, Tyne Wines, who know their Beaujolais as well as they know their onions, will probably be the only local source. They have Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau from an impeccably run property for a reasonable £7.45. I’ve put my name down for a couple of bottles. Phone (0845) 257-5125 for yours.

Wine of the Week

Moulin-à-Vent 2006, Cave du Château de Chénas, Waitrose, £10.44. Seriously good with the Christmas turkey.