Beaujolais is a category that is enjoying a moment in the sun, helped by a consumer-driven movement to drink wines with lower alcohol and fewer artificial additives. It is a success that has been a long time coming, particularly when just three decades ago most people only knew of the category from the Thanksgiving promotions for Beaujolais Nouveau. That category may have brought great attention to the region, but it unfortunately presented a style of wine that is not consistent with most of the production. Thankfully, a few stalwart, traditional producers persevered, and as the Nouveau craze has thankfully died a nearly silent death, the real wines of the region are incredibly popular.
Space does not allow for me to detail the rise and fall of Beaujolais Nouveau, or how a few producers in the 1970s, the disciples of winemaker Jules Chauvet, basically saved the region. I will try to craft a blog post in the next couple of weeks to give some details and list other producers worth pursuing if you love these wines. For our features this month, I will focus only on how that band of passionate winemakers, driven to produce authentic wines against the economic tidal wave that was cheap, heavily manipulated Nouveau, have inspired a new generation. Our features focus on two families, both with long histories in the region, who rose collectively in the past two decades and are crafting brilliant, authentic Beaujolais. These are wines that belong on the table year round, not just Thanksgiving. With temperatures rising, there is no better time to discover the beauty of real Beaujolais, as both of these wines can be chilled as well.
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