« L'introduction du Beaujolais Nouveau dans la mélancolie de l'automne est un acte civique . » 

                                                                                                                                 Bernard Pivot

Né officiellement en 1951 à la suite d'un arrêté autorisant les viticulteurs du Beaujolais à produire des vins en primeur, le Beaujolais Nouveau n'a eu de cesse depuis ce temps-là de conquérir la planète ce fameux 3ème jeudi de novembre de chaque année !

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est un vin de fête, un vin de soif qu'on boit entre collègues après le boulot ou entre amis autour d'un plateau de cochonailles lyonnaises ou de fromages. Il ne saurait être considéré sous un autre angle.

C'est d'ailleurs par cette approche que les publicitaires ont cette année encore lancé la campagne 2007 du Beaujolais Nouveau, sur un ton branché et décalé, misant sur le franglais à travers un nouveau slogan : IT'S BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU TIME !  Un site internet est d'ailleurs dédié entièrement à cet événement : www.beaujolaisnouveautime.com.

Certes, les conditions climatiques de cette année ont été assez cahotiques, mais heureusement la période de maturation des baies à été beaucoup plus clémente, permettant ainsi des vendanges dans des conditions optimales. Il faudra juger sur pièce ce délicat millésime 2007. Cette année on lui prête des goûts de framboise, de groseille, une belle fraicheur sur un fruité plaisant. Le syndicat viticole du Beaujolais décrit le millésime 2007 comme l'année de l'élégance.

POUR FETER L'EVENEMENT !

by Laurent Turrel, © www.nuncbibendum.com 2007       

Even though the Beaujolais wines are still trying to figure out their new identity, a few of these wine-producers have created their own identity. Well-rooted, exclusive quality wine, natural wine-growing methods, authentic, crisp, fruity. This new Beaujolais trend finds its expression in one of its masters: the famous Marcel Lapierre, producer of one of the tastiest, most famous Morgon wines ever.

The estate was created in the 1900s by Marcel Lapierre's grandfather. As the years passed, the estate grew in size (11ha). At the beginning of the 80s, the estate became interested in the work of researcher Jules Chauvet, who is known for his gentle, minimal-intervention method of farming and wine preparation, which was light-years away from the accepted vineyard practices of the time. As expected, Jules Chauvet was taken for a fool. But taking one year with the next, he never lost sight, and today his decision has proven to be the right one.

by Laurent Turrel, © www.nuncbibendum.com 2008 

Karim Vionnet says it himself: « I've always wanted to make a wine that is like me:  natural and unpretentious ». A goal realised by this young wine grower who for a short time has been producing wines that are among the most exciting Beaujolais today. An absolute must to taste!

Karim Vionnet, in his thirties, is a happy wine producer, one of those for whom the love of work well done is its own reward. And he deserves it! After having gone through training for several years at Guy Breton's, alias p'tit Max, THE reference for natural Beaujolais, Karim has quite recently taken flight. Expert in these teachings, he now runs 3.7 hectares in the commune of Villié-Morgon, there where the greatest can already be found (Lapierre, Foillard, Descombes, Breton...). His plots are located on the communes of Quincié, Beaujeu and Lantignié. Land that is halfway up the hillside with very diverse types of soil from one plot to another: marl, shiste, sand. It's this diversity that gives a truly regional flavour to his wines. The average age of the vines is 55 years and at the moment 2 vintages are produced: a young Beaujolais village (primeur) and a red Beaujolais village. While waiting one can expound over a few Beaujolais vintages which are in process.

It goes without saying that the growing of the vines is entirely natural, without recourse to any plant-care products, pesticides, etc. The priority for Karim is his region. That's why he pampers and ploughs it and maintains an intense organic life in his soils.

As for the wine-making process, there again it's the most natural possible: indigenous yeasts (no addition of exterior yeasts), no addition of sugar and almost none of sulphur, only 1mg/l at the time of bottling to stop the wine from becoming oxidised, which is infinitesimal. The wine is very lightly filtered in order to preserve its aromatic richness and its regional identity.

- Beaujolais village 2007: brilliant colour and clarity, full of sparkle, with a pretty ruby colour, lightly purpled. To our nose, it's a real basket of fruits that explodes, and we find the aromas of raspberry, red currant, cherry, strawberry, and blackcurrant, and then the floral notes arrive (iris, lilac, wild rose) before continuing with a marked minerality that gives energy to the nose. The mouth is supple, gourmand, crunchy and taut at the same time. A remarkable freshness at the end. A totally pleasurable wine, with the fruit, with its lovely expression of the region; in brief a Beaujolais village of a very high quality that we'd like to meet more often!

Franck Decrenisse is an adventurer! 37 years old, this non-standard wine-producer from Les Coteaux-du-Lyonnais carries the same lively and mischievous expression as do his wines. He dares to take risks in order to bring his customers pure pleasure!

After completing his oenology degree and experimenting with Cognac and Beaujolais wines, Franck Decrenisse returned to his family's property in Chasselay in 1993 and started running the 16ha vineyard, Le Petit Fromentin estate. « Everyone compares Les Coteaux-du-Lyonnais wines to Beaujolais wines. But even though they both share the same Gamay vine, the « AOC » Coteaux-du-Lyonnais is truly the highest northern designation from the Rhône Valley, where the soil is made up of gravel and flint.» This is what makes the difference!

Franck loves the Gamay vine. So much so that he even created the « Conservatoire National du Gamay, »the only of its kind in France. It houses 800 different Gamay varieties, not counting the 500 new varieties that are soon to be added to the Conservatoire. But the adventure doesn't end here!