Best Beaujolais

[stevebody]

Lightning will strike me, I'm sure, but I think the problem with Beaujolais is Georges Du Boeuf. It's an admirable mission: bringing quality wines to the largest possible number or people but the sheer ubiquity of his stuff obscures the truly great vintners like Marcel LaPierre, Jean-Paul Thevenet, Guy Breton, and a couple dozen others who make sublime wines but don't share GDB's marketing wallop. LaPierre's Morgons are everything Beaujolais is NOT supposed to be: elegant, powerful, extracted, aromatic, complex, and wonderfully age-worthy. I've recently finished my stash of his under-regarded '96 Morgon and every drop, over that four years, was nectar. The Morgons have power but the Moulin-au-Vents offer up that nose of roses and sweetbriar, and go deeper than you'd think. The non-GDB Julienas, when you can find one, are among the softest, most fragrant, most unusual wines I've ever tried. GDB is wonderful to establish a Beaujolais baseline and for trying the wines without breaking your pocketbook but I don't think even he would suggest that you make up your mind about Beaujolais from only his wines. Word is he's a great proponent of the region and frequently talks up other vintners' bottlings. Look for that better stuff. It may be a tad more expensive but it's well worth it.