What's Going On in the World of French Wines

Last week I spotted a nice article in the Wall Street Journal by Will Lyons highlighting the terrific 2009 vintage in France. While I always think it is good to take a realistic view of vintage reports, there are some years where certain regions are definitely blessed with ideal weather conditions. 2009, as Lyon points out, is one of those vintages and it has produced some outstanding wines. The wines of Bordeaux, in particular, have been in the news quite a lot lately as wine critics around the world have released their assessments of the 2009 vintage. However, it is worth noting that it isn’t just the 2009 Bordeaux wines that are generating a lot of excitement.

Last November I took a trip to Burgundy and Beaujolais. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed driving all over both regions exploring different vineyards and meeting some terrific people. One of the things that really stood out for me about the trip, besides getting my 3½ yr old son to try pâté and frogs’ legs (and he liked them), was the incredible potential of the 2009 harvest in Beaujolais. Producers were beside themselves with excitement. Georges Duboeuf himself told me that he hadn’t seen such ripe, healthy grapes in decades…or even ever. As the Wall Street Journal article points out, the 2009 vintage has produced Beaujolais that have “freshness and acidity,” making them perfect for pairing with a wide variety of foods.

While most of us are probably familiar with the name Beaujolais, we might be less so with the names of the ten crus of the region. These crus or villages, which are considered the best sites within Beaujolais, are: Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Cote de Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin à Vent, Régnié, and Saint Amour. Wines from these crus are usually very well structured with some firm tannins and fresh acidity and in such a great vintage as 2009, even more so. Gamay grown on the granitic soils found in many of these top sites has an especially distinctive mineral note and, as the article mentions, they are also very age-worthy.

So if you are thinking about how you might allocate your wine dollars for the 2009 vintage, I encourage you to not just think about the superstar regions, but those lesser-known areas such as the crus of Beaujolais. I think you will find those wines to be an outstanding value and exceedingly food and palate friendly.