Beaujolais Highlights: 2021 and 2022

When I attend big tastings, it’s to gather inspiration – a key thing, really. Having the opportunity to blend in and taste randomly and relatively anonymously gives you the opportunity to pick and choose without being worried about offending the participating vignerons.

At the “Bien Boire en Beaujolais” event, I tasted a lot of wine, and have picked a few to highlight, just as at the Aligoteur tasting in March.

Let’s go!

Domaine Mee Godard

I’ve always had a soft spot for Mee’s wines, and the 2021s served confirmed my faith in both the domaine and the vintage. Delightfully open wines in a reduction-free line-up, this is modern Beaujolais, if you like. And it works for me.

Domaine Richard Rottiers

A new estate for me, showing balanced and refined wines. Exploring the estate’s website could explain the delicacy I found:

“The entire crop is hand-picked and carefully sorted before being put into vats. The grapes are kept in temperature-controlled vats. This method allows for fruit aromas as well as subtle and delicate aromatic reminders of the Moulin-a-Vent terroir to be gently extracted from the Gamay grapes. The final and perfect balance of our wines is achieved through temperature-controlled fermentation and barrel aging throughout the whole winter season.”

Lovely wines from Clos de Mez: the Morgon Château Gaillard showed clear intensity in what I would call a modern-style Beaujolais. Good, but it might not seduce me like a Métras.

Domaine Rouet

This estate offered a nice selection of semi-carbonically macerated wines. Oddly, the Pinot Noir Comté Rhodanien left the strongest impression.

Domaine de La Grosse Pierre

Completely different wines from 2022 and 2021: The ’22s seemed on the ripe and sweet side, and I found the ’21s more balanced and cool. Perhaps it’s just grumpy old me, but I do love the 2021s.

The needle in the haystack

There were many wines on display, and although I was at the tasting with friends, I could easily have missed some good producers. So this is only a sample of interesting tastes!