Beaujolais

Throw away your preconceptions and raise a toast to new-wave Beaujolais, which can even hold its own against Burgundy, says Adam Lechmere

Who remembers the heady days of Beaujolais nouveau? At midnight on the third Thursday in November, the cry would go up, ‘Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!’, and wine merchants would vie to be the first to get the light, fruity, peardrop-flavoured wines – made from grapes harvested mere weeks before – over to Blighty. In 1986 we drank 6.4 million bottles – now the numbers are negligible. Not many mourn its passing, especially now that the UK is taking notice of Beaujolais as a fine wine region in its own right.

That’s nothing new – at the beginning of the last century, good vintages of the finest and longest lived of the Beaujolais crus would sell for more than grand cru Burgundy. Go to Beaujolais now and you’ll find a wine region rediscovering itself. ‘There’s been a sea change,’ Mark Andrew of London wine merchant Roberson explains. ‘Beaujolais is coming back into the minds of the press and public. There is a host of serious artisanal and quality producers making superb wines.’

And there’s no better time for it: the 2009 vintage, which is coming on stream now, is excellent – the coolish summer was perfect for ripening the delicate grape of Beaujolais, gamay, which at its best gives a pure, bright, zesty red with juicy tannins and wonderful raspberry and cherry flavours. The wine’s fresh, light style, rarely exceeding 13 per cent alcohol, is just what the contemporary consumer’s palate desires.

But what’s most interesting about Beaujolais is that as its reputation grows, so does investment – by big players like Bouchard and Jadot, both major Burgundy producers, and also by small, artisanal makers who are snapping up fabulous terroirs for bargain prices. A lack of investment in previous years means that many vines have not been replaced, so there are still parcels of 100-year-old vines, each yielding only a few bunches of intensely flavoured grapes.

Producers such as Julien Sunier (I’ve recommended his extraordinary Morgon) make wines that could be seen as new-wave Beaujolais – or, if you like, Beaujolais ‘nouveau’. They show all the classic characteristics of the region but are denser, darker, more concentrated, with grippier tannins and savoury, almost meaty flavours.

It’s not just the small artisanal producers who are doing it. ‘We aim almost for a Burgundian style,’ Waitrose’s Matt Smith, who retails Bouchard’s Fleurie, tells me. ‘This is the way it’s going.’

So this is the time to buy Beaujolais. And to drink it: although the great crus – Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas and Brouilly – can last for up to 10 years, at that age they would be well into the twilight of their lives and would be curiosities. No, Beaujolais is a wine to be drunk young and fresh.

Finally, if you’re not yet convinced, think of your wallet. The most expensive wine I’ve recommended is the price of a very basic, entry level Bourgogne rouge. So now’s the time to order a mixed case and prepare the cold cuts. Le Beaujolais est arrivé.