See below for what happened.........

2009 A.O.C. Cru du Beaujolais

November’s event provides a unique opportunity to sample all 10 of the A.O.C. Cru du Beaujolais wines.  Since 10 wines are being sampled rather than the typical 6 wines, pours will be one ounce instead of the typical 2 ounce pours.

Aperitif

2100 Beaujolais Villages Nouveau

The Ten Wines

Brouilly    Chénas   Chiroubles   Cốtes de Brouilly   Fleurie

Juliénas   Morgon   Moulin-á-Vent   Régnié   Saint-Amour

A Final Wine

2009 Beaujolais Villages

Special cheeses and breads will accompany the wines.

Desserts will follow the tasting.

Please bring your own glasses & pens. No smoking or strong fragrances, please. 

Attendees recognize they will consume alcohol and assume responsibility of having done so.

Attendance will be limited to the first 40.

Members  $22.00            Guests   $26.00

What Happened.........

This tasting was a unique and comprehensive experience – a horizontal tasting of an entire region’s wines for an exceptional vintage.

George Duboeuf described 2009 Beaujolais (100% Gamay grapes) wines as “the vintage of the sun”.  In his opinion, the amazing weather that year concentrated the grape flavors resulting in the best Beaujolais vintage of his lifetime.

The Detroit Metro Chapter tested this premise with a tasting of all ten 2009 Cru designated Beaujolais Villages wines, Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Cốtes de Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-á-Vent, Régnié, and Saint-Amour.  

Pours were limited to one ounce of each Cru wine.  The apéritif wine was a 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau which comes from grapes throughout the entire Beaujolais region of more than 100 villages.  After the Cru Beaujolais wines, a 2009 Beaujolais Villages was sampled representing 39 villages from the central part of Beaujolais.

A distinctive wine making technique in Beaujolais is Carbonic Maceration.  Whole un-crushed Gamay grape clusters are placed in a vat.  The bottom third releases their juice from the weight of the grapes above.  Nouveau wines remain on the skins for 3 to 4 days before pressing through a wine press.  Higher extraction results from a week or longer on the skins for Villages and Cru wines.

Our speaker, Bernd Mueller, divided the tasting of the 10 Cru Beaujolais wines into three groupings from lightest (ready to drink), to a mid range of intensity, to the last group that were considered more full-bodied.

In the first grouping, Bernd highlighted the volcanic soil character of Brouilly followed by Chiroubles with vineyards at the 1500 foot altitude and Régnie which exhibited some aging character.  In general, the group agreed that these wines were at their best and would probably not benefit from further aging.

The middle grouping exhibited more complex character.  The Cote de Brouilly would go well with Pork.  Fleurie surprised with much intensity and might pair well with lamb.  Saint Amour exhibited dark fruit and young tannins. 

The final grouping consisted of Chenas, Julineas, Morgon, and Moulin-a-vent.  Chenas exhibited a brandy oaked character. These four wines were clearly the most intense fruit and tannins and would likely benefit from some cellaring—perhaps a year or two.    All in attendance found more complexity, intensity, and diversity between Cru wines than expected.  Our consensus generally supported George Duboeuf’s assessment for the 2009 Beaujolais vintage.