Best Beaujolais

[summa]

Which are your favorite beaujolais, period.

[Bucko]

That is like asking what is your favorite car or actor/actress or food. Depends on the moment......

That said, the Morgons are tough to beat.

Bucko

[barnesy]

I will have to agree with Bucko...

Morgons are great, moulin a vent are also top notch...

One thing to really look for is stuff labeled Old Vines or "Vieille Vignes."

This is a whole different level of Beaujolais. It takes the fun and simple gamay and makes it subtle, silky and complex. Well worth the look.

Barnesy

[summa]

Thankee )

[mrdutton]

Don't forget Chiroubles!! A very nice beaujolais, indeed.

[hotwine]

True. Chiroubles, Morgon and Moulin-A-Vent make up the bulk of my Beaujolais supply (along with a few random Chenas, Regnie, Fleurie, Julienas..... ah, such delightful choices!)

[Innkeeper]

Popped the last of my current supply of 2000 Georges Duboeuf, Jean Descombes, Morgon for Mother when she arrived home early last night, making her a very happy camper. Thanks goodness, there are six more bottles en route. That makes three vintages in a row that this one has been a winner. For those that care, WS rated the Duboeuf Regnie as the best of the 2000 vintage.

The reason she came home early is that she moved two of our grandkids from 100 degree Southern New Hampshire heat to our "cool" 90 degree heat, until the heat wave breaks tomorrow hopefully. My cellar is up to 69 degrees, the warmest it has ever been in the fourteen years we've owned this house.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 08-10-2001).]

[hotwine]

The Law will probably be bangin' on my door any minute now! Just returned from recon of our newest wineshop with some liberated treasures: Duboeuf's Chiroubles Domaine Desmure, and his Regnie Domaine des Buyats, all priced at $5.99/btl!! I just know I'm going to hauled up on theft charges; these things are as much as three times that price anywhere else! Did I just snatch a Snickers from a toddler??

[hotwine]

Had to pull the cork on a 2000 Regnie tonight with a non-descript frozen dinner (she's in Houston visiting her sister, and hopefully picking up a case of Morgon at Spec's). This is not your usual Beaujolais - none of the bananas or "eau de formaldehyde" that sometimes characterizes the Gamay grape. This one is a gorgeous clear ruby in the glass - soft and supple, with a real mouthfull of fruit, and a nice clean finish. If not preempted by some other seductress, this will be my quaffer for Labor Day (and maybe Veterans' Day and even Thanksgiving).

[hotwine]

Tried Duboeuf's 2000 Chiroubles, Domaine Desmure, Sunday evening with another non-descript frozen dinner - pasta something or other. Dark and brooding, the color of cranberries; it looks more like a Rioja, it's just as opaque. The nose tells you it's Chiroubles. A mouthfull of rich, powerful fruit, with enough tannin to give it endurance. Boys and girls, this is the most serious Beaujolais I've ever experienced, and I've been drinkin' the stuff for over 30 years. Buy it by the truckload while you can, before I lease a warehouse and corner the market!

[summa]

Thanks again, Meeting our new chef, I've found we are going country french here at the restaurant, so this helps a lot, also, good to know that though his labels keep getting more fancy and he keeps getting more popular George Du Boeuf can still turn out great wines.

[zenda2]

It's been 15 months or so, does anyone have updates to this thread? Reviewing 'best buys' is one of my favorite traditions to start the New Year.

[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.