Beaujolais for the savvy shopper

So, you’ve got the Beaujolais basics down, right? Which can be summarized as this:

Beaujolais is probably not what you think. Beaujolais is awesome.

Ok, ok. There are a few more details. Read up on the real Beaujolais 101 here before you move onto this advanced Beaujolais lesson.

Hopefully in Beaujolais 101 we’ve convinced you all to love Beaujolais and you’re ready to run out and buy one (or two or five) right now! Great, so what do you look for? How do you shop for it?

**A Beaujolais will say “Beaujolais” on the label, not “Gamay”**

(This is because we’re in France and by default France (and most European countries) focus on region, not grape variety.)

The exception are the Beaujolais crus. These are the 10 sub-appellations of Beaujolais that are considered the crème de la crème. As well as not putting “Gamay” on the label they won’t put “Beaujolais” either, just the name of the cru it’s from.

Keep in mind the 3 tiers of quality

There are three main tiers of quality in Beaujolais based, mostly, on where a wine is from. The labels will reflect this and will indicate which tier you are dealing with. Keep reading to see what I mean.

Beaujolais AOC

The lowest-quality Beaujolais. These wines can be from anywhere in the entire region. Some are delicious, some might be a bit sour and thin. Usually priced in the $13-18 range.

These labels will just say “Beaujolais”.

(Beaujolais Nouveau is a style that is technically under the Beaujolais category and can range drastically in quality and deliciousness.)

Beaujolais-Villages AOC

These are wines from the soils surrounding one of 38 accredited villages in the region. The vineyards are a bit hillier; the soils also have less clay and are more granite based than the areas where run-of-the mill Beaujolais are from. In other words, the terroir makes better wines. The wines are likely to be more structured and rich than regular Beaujolais. Prices range from around $16 to $30.

The label will say “Beaujolais-Villages”. If all the fruit is from a single vineyard then the producer is allowed to list the particular village.

Beaujolais Cru AOC

These are the most esteemed Beaujolais wines, originating from 10 communes, or sub-appellations. These little areas (the largest, Brouilly, is just over 3,000 acres) are all in the north of Beaujolais on hillier sites. The soils tend to be granite-based soil and there are a bunch of micro-climates. It all adds up to wines that are more distinctive and complex.

These will not say Beaujolais on the label at all, but will only list the name of the particular cru from which the wine is from (see next section). Prices generally start in the low $20s (which is still great value for wines of this quality).

*From left: Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Village, and Fleurie (one of the 10 Beaujolais cru)*

If you want to be sure to get a good one, just go for a cru

When it comes to basic Beaujolais AOC and Beaujolais-Villages there are some great ones out there. However, especially, when it comes to bottom-tier Beaujolais, many will be simple and uninteresting and it’s hard to know what will be fun ‘n’ quaffable and what might be a total thumbs down. You have a better chance with Beaujolais Village but there is still some risk involved.

However, if you don’t want to be squirreling around, risking getting a boring bottle, we recommend just diving right into a Beaujolais cru. As a rule, the quality can be guaranteed to be good and you’re only spending a few more dollars—it’s almost silly not to take the safe route with the fancy-shmancy cru!

Like I mentioned above, the crus will not say Beaujolais on the label; instead they will only list the name of the particular cru. And, to save you some extra Googling time, here they are listed:

THE 10 BEAUJOLAIS CRU